BNY Mellon Moves To Let Institutions Hold Bitcoin, Ether

Select institutional clients of America’s oldest bank to be able to hold and transfer bitcoin and ether

article-image

Source: DALL·E

share

key takeaways

  • BNY Mellon launched a digital assets unit in February 2021 to build custody platform for traditional and digital assets
  • The bank partnered with crypto tech specialists Fireblocks and Chainalysis to help with security and compliance

Certain institutional clients of America’s oldest bank, BNY Mellon, can hold and transfer bitcoin and ether on its new crypto custody platform now live in the US.

The bank in February 2021 formed a digital assets unit tasked with developing a client-facing prototype of a multi-asset custody and administration platform for traditional and digital assets. 

BNY Mellon teamed up with Fireblocks and Chainalysis to help meet technology, security and compliance needs for institutions, the company said Tuesday.

The platform is set to onboard select investment fund firms this week, the Wall Street Journal reported, while the bank expects to expand the offering to other clients going forward. 

“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,” BNY Mellon CEO Robin Vince said in a statement. “We are excited to help drive the financial industry forward as we begin the next chapter in our innovation journey.” 

A BNY Mellon spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment.

BNY Mellon had $43 trillion in assets under custody or administration as of June 30 and $1.9 trillion in assets under management. 

“As the world’s largest custodian, BNY Mellon is the natural provider to create a safe and secure Digital Asset Custody Platform for institutional clients,” Caroline Butler, CEO of the firm’s custody services, said in a statement. 

“We will continue to innovate, embrace new technology and work closely with clients to address their evolving needs,” she added.

BNY Mellon opens to bitcoin as TradFi pushes tokenization

The launch follows a recent BNY Mellon survey which found that 41% of institutional investors hold crypto in their portfolios today while 15% plan to hold digital assets within the next two to five years. 

Of those surveyed, 91% said they are interested in investing in tokenized assets. Separate from bitcoin and ether, these are real-world assets or shares of a fund that can be traded on a digital ledger.

Tokenization is a key focus for the digital arm of fellow banking giant State Street. WisdomTree CEO Jonathan Steinberg has said repeatedly in recent months that he expects virtually all financial assets will eventually come to the blockchain through tokenization. 

Private markets investment firm Hamilton Lane then revealed last week that it would make three of its funds available via tokenized feeder funds.

Investment firms, such as Franklin Templeton, Ark Invest and Valkyrie Investments, have also launched crypto-focused separately managed accounts (SMAs) in recent weeks, citing demand for crypto among wealth manager clients.


Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter.

Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter.

Get alpha directly in your inbox with the 0xResearch newsletter — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.

The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. Subscribe to daily Solana news from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

Tags

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 18 - 20, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

kamino cover.jpg

Research

Kamino has solidified its position as the leading money market on Solana and is emerging as a DeFi bluechip. Although DeFi competition is fierce, Kamino has kept iterating on its product to provide the best-in-class UX, paired with a robust risk management framework and battle-tested infrastructure. Given the rollout of Kamino Lend V2, the protocol may scale aggressively over the coming months, penetrating previously untapped markets in Solana DeFi.

article-image

Why that the bull market might not start until 2025

article-image

August’s annual headline figure came in at 2.3% after an upward revision Thursday, so things are moving in the right direction 

article-image

MSTR’s stock price was roughly $248 at 2 pm ET Thursday

article-image

Ever since rates came off zero and fiscal deficits exploded, markets have started paying close attention to how the government is funding itself

article-image

Solana memecoins are collectively at an all-time high

article-image

Optimistic rollups like Optimism, Arbitrum and Base are seeing rapid adoption relative to zk rollups