Bank of New York Mellon Corp., the country’s oldest bank, is making the leap to the cryptocurrency market.
The custody bank said on Thursday that it will hold, transfer and issue bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies on behalf of its asset management clients. Over time, BNY Mellon will allow those digital assets to go through the same sanitary facility used by other more traditional managers’ holdings – from Treasurys to technology stocks – using a platform that is now in prototype. The bank is already discussing with customers about plans to bring their digital currencies to fruition.
“Digital assets are becoming part of the mainstream,” said Roman Regelman, executive director of BNY Mellon’s asset services and digital companies.
It is an important step for Wall Street back-office banks, whose concerns about regulatory, legal and stability risks have left them reluctant to come into direct contact with the crypto markets. But as the prices of bitcoin and other digital assets continued to rise, they became more popular among asset managers, hedge funds and other institutional investors.
And the top executives of those firms have begun asking BNY Mellon and their colleagues to treat digital assets as their other holdings would, Mr Regelman said.