Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE: BK) recently added Bitcoin and Ethereum to its assets that it holds as a custody manager, becoming the first large U.S. bank to include digital assets alongside traditional investments.
Cryptocurrency trade has become incredibly popular worldwide, with other institutions like Nasdaq (NASDAQ: NDAQ) and BlackRock (NYSE: BLK) already introducing custody platforms for their clients. According to a recent survey sponsored by BNY Mellon, 91% of institutional investors are interested in investing in digital assets, with 41% already hold cryptocurrencies in their portfolios.
Tapping into this evolving market, BNY Mellon formed an enterprise Digital Assets Unit back in 2021 to develop solutions for crypto assets. The bank is working with fintechs Fireblocks and Chainalysis to integrate their technology in order to create a secure crypto platform that meets both present and future compliance needs for clients, BNY Mellon said in a statement.
BNY Mellon spokesperson Steve LaMarca told Decrypt in an interview that account holders on the bank's platfrom will be able to custody only digital assets, with the bank adding support for more crypto assets "based on client demand, commercial opportunity, and regulatory guidance."
"Touching more than 20% of the world's investable assets, BNY Mellon has the scale to reimagine financial markets through blockchain technology and digital assets," said Robin Vince, CEO and President at BNY Mellon, in a statement. "We are excited to help drive the financial industry forward as we begin the next chapter in our innovation journey."
On Monday, Vince said during the company's Q3 earnings call that BNY Mellon considers crypto to be a long-term play, and expects full-scale adoption to be years or possibly decades away.
BNY Mellon is the United States' oldest bank, having been established in 1784 by a group including American Founding Fathers Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr. As of Sept. 30, 2022, BNY Mellon had $42.2 trillion in assets under custody, and $1.8 trillion in assets under management.