Another major institution in the US, the US banking giant – Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (BNY Mellon), is to offer Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrency custody services to its customers.
This is a landmark development for the traditional US banking system, as BNY Mellon is the first of the country’s eight mainstream banks to offer cryptocurrency services.
First they made sure they got their licenses
Earlier this year BNY Mellon CFO Emily Portney highlighted the importance of mainstream financial institutions obtaining clear definitions of what is permitted by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) before offering cryptocurrency investment services to their clients.
Now, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal, BNY Mellon is becoming the first major US bank to protect cryptocurrency assets alongside traditional investments on its platform. The bank received permission from New York financial regulators earlier this year to allow it to store BTC and Ethereum (ETH) for clients on its platform.
Robin Vince, president and CEO of BNY Mellon pointed out on this:
“We are excited to help the financial industry move forward.”
The first of the eight
The 238-year-old bank is the first of eight major US banks to store cryptocurrencies and allow customers to use a custodial platform for traditional holdings as well as cryptocurrencies.
BNY Mellon will itself hold clients’ keys to their cryptocurrency assets and will provide the same accounting services for cryptocurrencies as it offers for stocks, bonds or commodities.
