Cowen to close cryptocurrency division

The American investment bank Cowen announced the closure of Cowen Digital, its cryptocurrency division, a year after its launch. Bloomberg reports.

“Today will be the last day for the Cowen Digital team. […] We will continue to pursue this ambition, but we will have to do it somewhere else,” the email to clients and employees says.

Cowen launched a digital-assets-focused division in March 2022. The service’s clients had access to trading in 16 assets, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Aave and USD Coin.

In the future the bank planned to add support for crypto derivatives, DeFi and NFT.

Cowen became the second financial institution to close its cryptocurrency project in 2023. Earlier, the institutional trading platform TradeBlock, part of the Digital Currency Group, announced its cessation of operations.

The bank cited an unfavorable macroeconomic environment and an uncertain regulatory regime for digital assets in the United States.

In May 2021, Cowen invested $25 million in PolySign, the parent company of Standard Custody. The latter received a cryptocurrency-trust license from the New York State Department of Financial Services.

In the same month the bank launched a $46 million fund for investments in the crypto industry.