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BNY Mellon is expanding it betting on the future of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as it pushes ahead with the international expansion of its crypto-related service. The oldest bank is reportedly planning to offer crypto custody in Ireland by setting a new unit in the country.
BNY Mellon has recently created a “Digital Innovation Hub” in Dublin, according to Business Post. Through its new hub, the bank plans to allow clients to “hold, transfer and issue digital assets.”
The bank’s Dublin unit will act as a custodian for digital assets for its clients. BNY Mellon’s custodial services will support a variety of assets such as the world’s largest crypto by market cap, Bitcoin (BTC), central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), according to Bitcoin.com.
BNY Mellon is the product of the 2007 merger between the Bank of New York and the Mellon Financial Corporation. The oldest banking institution in the U.S. is also the largest custodian bank and asset servicing company in the world, with $41.7 trillion assets under custody and $2.2 trillion assets under management as of March 31, 2021.
The bank established its operations in Ireland in 1994. The new crypto asset-focused hub in Dublin will also be regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI).
However, the creation of BNY Mellon’s Dublin hub came at a time when a CBI official warned that the rising popularity of cryptos such as Bitcoin is “of great concern.” Director-General for Financial Conduct Derville Rowland said that “crypto-assets are quite a speculative, unregulated investment” in an interview with Bloomberg.
Rowland emphasized that those who plan to invest in crypto should be “really aware they could lose the whole of that investment.” CBI’s Director-General for Financial Conduct has been known for imposing hefty fines on the country’s financial firms.
