As institutions scramble to meet cryptocurrency demand, the US Bank has launched a bitcoin custody service

Institutional investors have long been conspicuously absent from the crypto space. Now we see a worldwide race to bring in more institutional investors to the crypto space. The 5th largest bank of the U.S.A. – U.S. Bank – made a formal announcement about the availability of its cryptocurrency custody service to fund managers. The report came out first in CNBC media. With this announcement, investment managers now have the option of storing bitcoin cash, litecoin, and secure keys for bitcoin with help from sub-custodian NYDIG. According to the vice-chairperson of U.S. Bank Gunjan Kedia, they will open up support for Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies in the future.

The move from U.S. Bank restates the fact that institutional financial actors will play a key role in cryptocurrency in the coming years. More and more financial institutions are regarding crypto as a legitimate asset. Apart from U.S. Bank, other key players in this space are Bank of New York, Northern Trust, and State Street. All of these financial institutions have made announcements about their cryptocurrency custody services.

According to vice-chairperson Kedia, more and more customers are getting interested in investing in crypto. To keep up with the demand of the time, financial institutions are opening up their services for digital currencies.

The U.S. bank has been operational since 1863 and is among the top ten players in custody services in the banking sector of the U.S.A. The U.S. Bank could make the decision after a regulatory bill was passed allowing national banks to custody crypto assets. Gunjan Kedia is hopeful of the step and hopes that more investors will be interested in their services.