BNY Mellon To Offer Institutional Clients Exposure to Crypto

World’s largest custodian bank BNY Mellon will allow institutional clients to hold bitcoin and ether starting this year.

Based in the US, BNY Mellon has expressed their plans to launch a cryptocurrency custody platform, which will offer the bank’s institutional clients the opportunity to gain exposure to cryptocurrency.

According to a report from CITY A.M., a business newspaper based in London, BNY Mellon’s new product will initially launch in the U.S. later this year. Thereafter, the product will be expanded into additional markets globally based on demand.

Talia Klein, Head of Digital Asset Custody Commercial Products for BNY Mellon, was quoted saying that “I think what we’re seeing in the UK is that there’s a really vibrant and active digital assets market here,” potentially hinting at a Launch in Britain after the initial U.S. launch.

The new custody platform will allow clients to hold bitcoin and ether in BNY Mellon cryptocurrency wallets which will be backed by Fireblocks technology. According to BNY Mellon, the launch of this new product later this year will make the investment bank the first to enter the global digital custody space.

Katey Neate, who is the Chief Risk Officer for Asset Servicing and Digital at BNY Mellon, stated that the custody service will cater for just two digital assets in the beginning. However, there are plans to rapidly expand the service to include a range of tokenized assets subject to regulatory approvals.

The bank is 238 years old, and has been taking steady strides into the cryptocurrency space after setting up a dedicated digital asset team almost a year ago.