Commonwealth Bank of Australia объявил that it would become the first bank in the country to offer clients the ability to buy, sell and store cryptocurrency through its own CommBank app.
The institution established partnerships with the Bitcoin exchange and custodian Gemini, as well as analytics firm Chainalysis. They helped the bank develop a service for exchange and custody of digital assets for CommBank.
The pilot launch of the new feature will take place in the coming weeks, and for a broad set of clients it will gradually roll out in 2022.
According to the press release, the bank will support ten cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin.
The decision to add crypto-related services was made following a study. In its findings, a large number of clients already trade and store cryptocurrencies on third-party platforms.
“The emergence and growing demand for digital currencies from clients create both problems and opportunities for the financial services sector, which has witnessed the emergence of new players and business models implementing innovations in the field,” said Matt Comyn, CEO of Commonwealth Bank.
He said that, to meet demand, the bank took a “strategic decision” to partner with Gemini to integrate the exchange’s services into CommBank via API.
The collaboration with Chainalysis is intended to help Commonwealth Bank comply with regulatory requirements in the new domain and reduce criminal risks.
“Customers have expressed concerns about some crypto services offered on the market, including issues with using third-party exchanges, risk of fraud, and a lack of trust in some providers,” said Mr. Comyn.
In the first half of 2021, Australians lost more than $25m to cryptocurrency-related fraud.