BNY Mellon, largest custodian bank, starts Bitcoin, Ether custody services
Bank of New York Mellon Corp., a 238-year-old bank based in the U.S., is now allowing select U.S. clients to hold and transfer Bitcoin and Ether, the bank announced in a press release on Tuesday.
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Fast facts
BNY Mellon will store private keys of crypto wallets to help hold and transfer Bitcoin and Ether on behalf of a limited group of asset managers, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported.
The announcement is a notable event signifying the growing acceptance of digital assets amongst the traditional banking sector in the U.S., the WSJ says.
Earlier this fall, the New York State Department of Financial Services approved BNY Mellon to receive cryptocurrency assets from customers.
According to a survey sponsored by Mellon, 91% of institutional investors are interested in investing in tokenized assets, while 41% already hold crypto in their portfolios.
In 2021, the bank formed an enterprise, the Digital Assets Unit, to develop digital asset technology solutions and a bridge between traditional and digital asset custody.
BNY Mellon is the largest custodian bank in the world, with US$43 trillion assets under custody and US$1.9 trillion under management across 35 countries as of June 2022, according to its website.
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