Okay, guys, the banks are moving again. And this time around, even more of them are throwing up the white flag and conceding the fight in their latest bout with Bitcoin.
On Monday, Bank of America, one of the worlds leading financial institutions, launched its digital asset research in a report titled, “Digital Assets Primer: Only the first inning”, conceding that crypto is much too big to ignore. Today, US Bank, America's fifth largest retail bank, announced that it is launching a crypto custody service for fund managers. Institutional investors, y'all, let's get into it.
Bank of America launches digital asset research report
In a news release announcing the launch of its report on Monday, Bank of America gave crypto glowing reviews.
It stated: "Digital assets represent a $2 trillion+ market value with 200 million+ users, and have the potential to transform every industry by improving efficiency and reducing friction across transactions."
And the bank wasn't just stopping at Bitcoin either.
According to Alkesh Shah, the bank's head of Global Cryptocurrency and Digital Asset Strategy, who led the development of the report, while Bitcoin is important, "the digital asset ecosystem is so much more".
And so, the primer seeks to provide an investment framework for the digital asset landscape, including tokens, applications powered by smart contracts, stablecoins, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
US Bank launches crypto custody service
Meanwhile, US Bank, is joining the digital asset space and has launched a cryptocurrency custody service for Global Fund Services clients.
In a statement issued earlier today, the bank revealed that its crypto custody services were live and available to institutional investment managers with private funds in the U.S. or the Cayman Islands who would like a safekeeping solution for Bitcoin, and promised that additional coin support would be coming soon.
This, says Gunjan Kedia, the bank's vice chair of Wealth Management and Investment Services, is in response to growing investor interest in cryptocurrency and heightening demand from fund services clients.
US Bank follows a number of other banks already operating in the crypto space.
JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and Goldman Sachs have already begun to offer cryptocurrency related services to investors, and earlier this year, Wells Fargo announced its intention to do so.
At the time of this post, Bitcoin was trading at $51,383.02, up 5.13% over the past 24 hours.
So crypto is going mainstream, guys. That's awesome! I'm expecting my portfolio to grow, man. It's tiny now, but I plan to be consistent and I've got that retirement plan in sight!
Anyways, I want to know, what do you think the impact would be with more institutional investors moving into the space? Realistically.
Is there a downside?
Think about it. At the moment, anyone could join an exchange, open a wallet, invest in coins or tokens or NFTs, and be a part of the burgeoning crypto economy. Some exchanges allow for trades as low as $2. Tiny as that may be for some of us, this ability to gather and grow coins has presented a dream, an opportunity, gamble though it may be, for the common man to amass wealth.
Do you think that could change in the future?
Do you foresee barriers to entry with crypto trading?
I'd love to hear your views on this one.
So that's it for me, guys. I'm off again in search of stories to bring to you so we can sit and blag and hypothetically share a cup of coffee bought with crypto. In the meantime, y'all know I love the support. And remember, please be safe!
