$470B Bank Goes Into Crypto — Probably Nothing, Right?

by · October 14, 2022

As crypto traders debate whether Bitcoin (BTC) will first hit $25,000 or $15,000, the world’s largest financial institutions are laying the groundwork for mass adoption. The proverbial floodgates are unlikely to open until the US provides a clear regulatory framework for crypto, but regulators and industry insiders are confident that guidance could come as early as 2023. Meanwhile, mega banks like BNY Mellon, whose roots date back to 1784, are entering the space.

This week’s Crypto Biz features BNY Mellon’s foray into digital assets, JPMorgan’s ongoing experimentation with blockchain technology and Crypto.com’s new European headquarters.

BNY Mellon, America’s oldest bank, launches crypto services

Arguably the biggest story of the week was the news of another established financial institution entering the cryptosphere. BNY Mellon, whose predecessor was founded 238 years ago, announced the launch of a digital custody platform to protect its clients’ Bitcoin and Ether (ETH) holdings. “With Digital Asset Custody, we continue our journey of trust and innovation into the evolving digital asset space, while embracing leading technology and partnering with fintechs,” said Roman Regelman, the bank’s managing director of securities services and digital. To give you a sense of how massive BNY Mellon is, the bank has over $470 billion in assets under custody as of 2021.

SWIFT action: JPMorgan and Visa team up on cross-border blockchain payments

JPMorgan continues to experiment with blockchain technology and digital assets even after its CEO sought to dismiss the sector as a Ponzi scheme. Now the US financial institution is working with Visa to streamline the use of its private blockchain for cross-border payments. The partnership centers around JPMorgan’s Liink blockchain, which is designed specifically for cross-border transfers, and Visa’s B2B connect, a cross-border payments network for banks. As Cointelegraph reported, it seems the duo wants to develop an alternative to SWIFT, the dominant global network for secure messaging and transactions.

Crypto.com invests $145 million in new European headquarters

2021 was the year of sponsorship for Crypto.com. Now 2022 looks set to be the year of regulatory approvals. In light of regulatory traction in Europe, the crypto exchange announced this week that Paris, France would become its new European headquarters. The company plans to spend around $145.7 million to establish its presence in France. Additional resources will be allocated to increase the stock exchange’s presence throughout the region. It looks like Crypto.com is positioning itself for the next bull market. Most of the casual retail users probably won’t open the app until then.

Stellar Development Foundation launches $100 million to support native smart contract adoption

Stellar doesn’t get nearly as much airtime as it did during the crypto bubble of 2017, but the network is still working to drive adoption and innovation on its Soroban smart contract platform. This week, the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF), the non-profit organization supporting the development of the Stellar network, announced that it had launched a $100 million fund to incentivize developers to continue building on Soroban. Timer Weller, SDF’s vice president of technology strategy, told Cointelegraph that Soroban was developed to overcome the “friction” of existing blockchain networks.

Before You Go: $25K or $15K BTC – Which Comes First?

Bitcoin’s price action is starting to look eerily similar to 2018’s “range from hell.” And we all know what happened after that (BTC would eventually plunge from $6000 to about $3200, marking the final bottom of the cycle). In this week’s market report, I sat down with Benton Yaun to discuss BTC’s price trajectory and how the latest CPI inflation data could impact the market. You can watch the full replay below.

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