Bitcoin adoption among banks in the United States has been growing steadily. One of the latest financial institution’s in the country poised to continue this trend is U.S. Bancorp, the parent of U.S. Bank. Today, U.S. Bank says “We’re launching three new initiatives to meet growing needs of clients” and they are currently finalizing cryptocurrency custody services.
U.S. Bank has been selected to administer NYDIG’s ETF bitcoin fund this year, pending regulatory approvals. It expands on the bank’s long-standing private fund servicing relationship with NYDIG.
The bank’s Global Fund Services will offer a new cryptocurrency custody product for customers with the engagement of a sub-custodian for fund servicing.
U.S. Bancorp, is the fifth-largest bank in the country.
The Bank announced that “As this market continues to grow, the cross-functional team of digital, technology, and product experts across the bank, supports our crypto/blockchain strategy. They have been testing, planning and making moves behind the scenes in support of this disruptive technology. Ultimately, they support our clients’ needs surrounding the emergence of digital assets”.
The actual announcement says that the new services are contingent upon the selection of a sub-custodian to contract under U.S. Bank.
The Chief Strategy Officer for the U.S. Bank Global Fund Services, Christine Waldron, said that there has been a change in the desire of institutional investors to gain exposure to cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.
“They’ve always seen it bubbling around the surface on the retail investor side,” she said. “This really allowed for institutional investors to take a look at cryptocurrency as a viable asset class.” We’re working through our operational integration and our risk and compliance process.”
There is, however, no confirmed timeframe when these services will go live. Regarding this concern for crypto services, Waldron said: “We are moving forward based off of the most current guidance that we have.” That’s the most important piece.”
