In the coming months, customers at some US banks will be able to buy, sell and store bitcoin using their existing accounts. CNBC CNBC citing New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG).
To enable such capabilities for financial institutions, Stone Ridge’s subsidiary—managing $10 billion in assets—entered into a partnership with fintech giant Fidelity National Information Services (FIS).
While FIS, which serves banks with nearly 300 million checking accounts, will handle connectivity with financial institutions, NYDIG will provide custody and trading of cryptocurrencies.
According to NYDIG’s Patrick Sells, head of Banking Solutions, hundreds of banks are already participating, the majority being small institutions with a few branches.
“What we’re doing makes it easier for ordinary Americans and corporations to buy bitcoin through their existing relationships with banks. If I use a mobile app for all my banking operations, I now have the ability to buy, sell and store cryptocurrency,” said Sells.
In recent months there have been reports of plans to launch bitcoin-related products by major financial institutions such as Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan. But these are access-to-cryptocurrency solutions for large players, NYDIG president Yan Zhao clarified.
“Most people cannot invest in what is available to institutions,” she added.
Rob Lee, head of digital banking at FIS, believes that banking giants could face pressure from retail investors after the smaller institutions launch bitcoin-linked services.
Yan Zhao explained the growing interest by financial institutions in such services, noting that banks see more funds moving from their customers to Coinbase, Kraken and other cryptocurrency trading platforms.
As noted, NYDIG also works with fintech company Moven on a set of solutions to ease banks’ handling of bitcoin.