Bank of New York Mellon, the nation’s oldest bank, said Thursday that it will begin financing bitcoin and other digital currencies.
The custody bank will eventually allow digital currencies to pass through the same financial network it currently uses for more traditional holdings like U.S. Treasury bonds and equities after months of analysis of its prototype digital asset framework.
“BNY Mellon is proud to be the first global bank to announce plans to provide an integrated service for digital assets,” Roman Regelman, CEO of asset servicing and head of digital at BNY Mellon, said in a press release.
“Growing client demand for digital assets, maturity of advanced solutions, and improving regulatory clarity present a tremendous opportunity for us to extend our current service offerings to this emerging field,” he added.
The BNY Mellon executive added that, pending product analysis and approvals, the bank should begin offering the services to its customers later this year. The Wall Street Journal first reported the bank’s cryptocurrency announcement.