BNY Mellon, which is known as the oldest US bank, said it
will form a new digital assets unit to transfer, safeguard and issue digital
assets in response to client demand.
The move comes as bitcoin values continue to climb to new
heights after receiving a legitimacy boost when Tesla and Mastercard announced
they would accept the digital currency, even as many regulators remain
skeptical of the volatile currency.
BNY Mellon, which was founded by the first US Treasury
secretary Alexander Hamilton in 1784, described the move as a response to
market demand.
"BNY Mellon is proud to be the first global bank to
announce plans to provide an integrated service for digital assets," said
Roman Regelman, chief executive of asset servicing.
"Growing client demand for digital assets, maturity of
advanced solutions, and improving regulatory clarity present a tremendous
opportunity for us to extend our current service offerings to this emerging
field."
Prices of bitcoin climbed further Thursday, rising to
$48,364 at 1320 GMT, a new all-time high.
Electric automaker Tesla, which is led by bitcoin enthusiast
Elon Musk, on Monday announced a $1.5 billion investment in the digital money
and plans to accept the cryptocurrency from customers purchasing vehicles.
Mastercard followed suit on Wednesday announcing plans to
start accepting "select cryptocurrencies" directly on its network for
the first time.
Mastercard already has ventures with cryptocurrency outfits
for consumers, but those funds are converted back to traditional currencies
before entering the credit card network.
"Our change to supporting digital assets directly will
allow many more merchants to accept crypto," Raj Dhamodharan, Mastercard's
executive vice president for digital assets, said in a statement.
Despite the surge in bitcoin, skeptics note the currency
remains highly volatile.
During her Senate confirmation hearing, newly-installed
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said cryptocurrencies are vulnerable to illicit
finance.
Uber Technologies Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi told
CNBC the ride-hailing company has no plans to follow Tesla and purchase bitcoin
with corporate cash.
"We're going to keep our cash safe," Khosrowshahi
said. "We're not in the speculation business."
But Uber will assess customer interest in using bitcoin.
"If there's a need there, we'll do it,"
Khosrowshahi said.
General Motors Chief Executive Mary Barra said Wednesday the
carmaker has no plans to invest in bitcoin.
"This is something we'll monitor and we'll
evaluate," Barra said on a conference call with analysts. "If there's
strong customer demand for it in the future, there's nothing that precludes us
from doing that." -AFP
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