- BNY Mellon reports majority of customers have not lost confidence in digital assets and are all highly interest in investing into digital assets.
- A survey conducted by BNY Mellon in October, which found that 91% of custodian bank clients are interested in investing in blockchain-based tokenized products
- Transitioning into digital assets must be secure and responsible when doing so, BNY Mellon will help guided clients through the space.
Michael Demissie, the head of digital assets at Bank of New York Mellon (BNY Mellon), is adamant that the cryptocurrency market crash in 2022 won’t waver institutional interest in digital assets.
At a conference run by Afore Consulting, Demissie said on Feb. 8 that the digital asset industry is “here to stay” as institutional investors have a strong interest in crypto.
“What we see is clients are interested in digital assets, broadly,” he said, according to a Feb. 8 report from Reuters.
Demissie backed up his thoughts by referencing a survey conducted by BNY Mellon in October, which found that 91% of custodian bank clients are interested in investing in blockchain-based tokenized products.
The survey also found that 86% of institutional players are adopting a “buy and hold” strategy, which may suggest that they see the cryptocurrency market as a long-term play.
Of those surveyed, 88% also said that the severe cryptocurrency market turndown in 2022 has kept their plans to invest in the digital asset sector over the long term.
Demissie stated that more work needed to be done in Washington, D.C., so industry players could move forward with regulatory clarity.
“We need clear regulations and rules for the road. We need responsible actors who can offer reliable services that live up to investors’ trust.”
“It’s important that we navigate this space in a responsible way,” he added.
On Feb. 2, BNY Mellon announced the appointment of Caroline Butler as the firm’s CEO of Digital Assets to help drive the next wave of adoption for the bank’s clients. She was previously the CEO of custody services.
The appointment comes as BNY Mellon launched its digital custody platform in October, offering selected institutional clients the opportunity to invest in Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH).
In February 2022, BNY Mellon announced a partnership with the on-chain metrics platform Chainalysis to help track and analyze cryptocurrency products.
BNY Mellon isn’t the only big bank making late moves in the digital asset industry.
Goldman Sach reportedly expressed interest in buying cryptocurrency firms after FTX’s catastrophic collapse impacted several in November.
While JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon isn’t a fan of Bitcoin, his firm has recently dabbled with blockchain-based services. In November, the firm successfully executed its first-ever cross-border transaction using decentralized finance on a public blockchain.
