U.S. Bank launches Bitcoin and crypto custody services

U.S. Bank announced that it has launched its Bitcoin and crypto custody services for Global Fund Services clients. The services are aimed at institutional investment managers. 

U.S. Bank and crypto custody services

According to reports, it appears that the continued interest of investors, including institutional investors, in crypto is growing so much that U.S. Bank has also entered the arena, offering new cryptocurrency custody services. 

At the moment, the services available are custody solutions for Bitcoin, but support for other cryptocurrencies is expected to arrive soon. 

The recipients of the services are all institutional investment managers with private funds in the United States or the Cayman Islands. Among the first sub-custodians is the New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG), a leading technology and fintech services company.

In this regard, Robert Gutmann, co-founder and CEO of NYDIG said:

“NYDIG is excited to partner with U.S. Bank to provide its customers with a custody solution that meets the highest security, compliance and regulatory standards. Together, we can facilitate access to this growing asset class while delivering the best-in-class experience that U.S. Bank’s clients have come to expect”.

Gunjan Kedia, vice president, U.S. Bank Wealth Management and Investment Services also left a statement of his own, describing the current situation:

“Investor interest in cryptocurrency and demand from our fund services clients have grown strongly over the last few years. Our fund and institutional custody clients have accelerated their plans to offer cryptocurrency and, in response, we made it a priority to accelerate our ability to offer custody services. The environment is complex, with an evolving regulatory landscape and nascent technology platforms. Our clients are looking for a service offering that is consistent with U.S. Bank’s exceptional standards of quality and risk management. Integrity and expertise are critical to safeguarding our clients’ most valuable assets, so we’re thrilled to offer our institutional clients NYDIG’s industry-leading Bitcoin expertise, backed by the financial strength of U.S. Bank”.

U.S. Bank and the partnership with NYDIG 

U.S. Bancorp, with nearly 70,000 employees and $559 billion in assets as of June 30, is the parent company of U.S. Bank, the fifth-largest bank in the country. In parallel, NYDIG is the Bitcoin subsidiary of Stone Ridge, the parent company of a $12 billion-plus alternative asset manager. 

This U.S. Bank collaboration doesn’t appear to be the first major one for NYDIG, which is already active in its efforts to provide digital asset support services to all US banks. 

By early summer, NYDIG was already in agreement with corporate payments giant NCR to provide bank customers with a way to purchase bitcoin directly from their existing bank accounts. At the time, there was already talk of as many as 450 banks in the US being involved, with some 24 million customers buying and selling bitcoin.

Not only that, NYDIG is in partnership with the global banking giant JPMorgan Chase for its Bitcoin fund to cover demand in its Private Banks. 

NYDIG‘s other important participation is also as an investor in the largest funding round of Genesis Digital Assets, the industrial giant of bitcoin mining.