Bank of New York MellonCorp., the nation’s oldest bank, is opening its doors to bitcoin, a sign of growing popularity and wider acceptance of digital assets. The bank will store and trade cryptocurrency on behalf of its clients. It is developing a platform to allow digital assets to pass through the same system as other more traditional holdings, like Treasuries or tech stocks.
“Digital assets are becoming part of the mainstream,” said Roman Regelman, chief executive of BNY Mellon’s asset-servicing and digital businesses.
It is estimated that digital assets services will become available to clients this year. But it is still too early to forecast the value of the incoming assets. According to Regelman, asset managers now use third-party custody options.
BNY Mellon has formed a team that will work on solutions to include digital assets in all bank’s activities. Regelman believes within 3-5 years cryptocurrencies will be fully integrated into the Wall Street’s traditional infrastructure.
