Bitcoin and crypto-related services getting more interest from banks

With Bitcoin soaring to new heights, the crypto is getting more attractive to investors. As a result, global banking institutions have expressed more interest in BTC with the increasing demand from their clientele for them to offer cryptocurrency-related services.

A new report from British crypto firm Elliptic revealed that banking giants are becoming more interested in Bitcoin, according to Cointelegraph. Elliptic co-founder Tom Robinson noted a massive surge in Bitcoin-related inquiries from financial institutions as the crypto’s price surged to new heights during its recent rally.

The trend is particularly notable in the United States where several financial institutions “are seriously considering launching some type of cryptocurrency service,” according to Robinson. By comparison, their British counterparts are more reserved based on the number of Bitcoin-associated demands Elliptic received from U.K. banks.

For instance, Bank of New York Mellon, the United States’ oldest banking institution, recently announced plans to launch crypto-related services that will allow clients to hold and trade Bitcoin and other cryptos. The bank said that digital currencies will be fully incorporated into the traditional banking infrastructure within three to five years.

The trend is not limited to U.K. and U.S.-based banks alone. German financial giant Deutsche Bank is also planning to launch a host of crypto-related services such as crypto custody, trading, and token issuance, that will target its institutional clientele.

Meanwhile, Megan Prendergast Millar, a managing director at the risk and compliance company Guidepost Solutions, explained that the growing interest in Bitcoin from traditional financial institutions is to be expected with the increasing adoption of the cryptocurrency. Millard expects traditional banks to open up to digital currencies to meet the demand for crypto-related services from their millennials and Generation Z clients.

“Financial institutions are looking to keep their customers and they need to think about who those people are,” Millard explained. Previous studies have already revealed that cryptocurrencies tend to be more popular among younger investors. In fact, JPMorgan predicted that the increasing participation among millennials could be a significant driver for the crypto market’s growth.

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