2021-5-9 17:31 |
Citibank, one of the oldest banks in the US, is mulling introducing crypto trading, custody, and financing services. The banking giant’s Head of Foreign Exchange, Itay Tuchman, unveiled this news earlier today, noting that the bank has had an influx of requests from its clients to introduce Bitcoin (BTC) services. Reportedly, the bank is planning to take ample time to come up with a product that will be both appealing to its clients and regulatory compliant.
According to Tuchman, the bank has multiple angles through which it can tackle crypto integration. As such, it is weighing to the option to see how it can best serve its customers. He added that the bank does not intend to dip its toes in crypto through a proprietary trading approach, a strategy that banks trade with their funds to make more profits.
Despite the bank taking a slow, cautious approach towards integrating crypto service, Tuchman said it does not have any fear of missing out (FOMO) because of two factors. The first is that Citi believes crypto is here to stay and the second is that the bank believes the market is still in its preliminary stages. He added that the bank does not consider onboarding the crypto bandwagon a speed race, seeing as it believes there is more than enough room to accommodate everyone.
BTC continues getting more attention from banksThis news comes after NYDIG unveiled that hundreds of US banks will start offering crypto services over the next few months. The crypto custody firm disclosed that it had teamed up with Fidelity National Information Services (FIS) in a deal that would leverage the FIS Digital One Mobile solution to help banks provide BTC services seamlessly through an intuitive platform. While the companies have only secured deals with small banks at the moment, they are holding talks with leading financial institutions to onboard them on the program.
While this is the first time Citi has disclosed its plans, regarding BTC adoption, the bank has been bullish on the coin for a while. For instance, the bank published a report in March this year, saying BTC is at a tipping point and that it might become the currency of choice for global trade.
Per the bank’s analysts, BTC might achieve this because of its traits, which include a decentralised and borderless design, lack of foreign exchange exposure, fast and cheaper money transfers, secure payment channels, and traceability.
The post Citibank contemplates rolling out crypto trading and custody services appeared first on Invezz.
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