BNY Mellon CEO Robin Vince says “client demand” was the “tipping point” that ultimately led to the bank’s launch of institutional-focused crypto services last week. BNY Mellon, America’s oldest bank, became the first large bank in the country to offer custody of institutional clients’ Ether (ETH) and Bitcoin (BTC) on Oct. 11. In an Oct. 17 conference call following the release of its third quarter earnings, Vince pointed to a survey commissioned by the bank this year, which found that 91% of large institutional asset managers, asset owners and hedge funds were interested in investing in some type of tokenized …

German crypto bank Nuri has told its 500,000 users to withdraw funds from their accounts as the firm prepares to shut down and liquidate the business, marking it as another victim of the 2022 bear market. Nuri first reported liquidity issues in August, after announcing that it had filed for insolvency amid the economic strains of Crypto Winter. It said at the time that business would continue as usual, as it worked on a restructuring plan and securing a buyout, however an acquisition has failed to materialize. In an Oct. 18 blog post, Nuri CEO Kristina Mayer noted that despite …

Mastercard officially announced on Oct. 17 a new program to enable financial institutions to bring crypto trading capabilities and services to their customers. Called “Crypto Source,” the program is designed to allow users to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrencies, complemented by Mastercard’s proprietary Crypto Secure solution for additional security and compliance. The tool is launched in cooperation with Mastercard’s existing partner Paxos Trust Company and is reportedly expected to launch in Q4 2022. Paxos is known for providing similar services to global payment giant PayPal, which launched its first crypto services in late 2020. Within the new partnership, Paxos will …

MakerDAO, the governing body of the Maker Protocol has seen its revenue plummet in the third quarter of 2022, caused by a fall in loan demand and few liquidations, while expenses have remained high. According to an Oct. 13 tweet by Johnny_TVL, a Messari analyst and co-author of “The State of Maker Q3 2022,” the decentralized autonomous organization saw its revenue plunge to just over $4 million in Q3, down 86% from the previous quarter. One of the results of this has been MakerDAO’s first quarter of net income loss since 2020. The Messari senior research analyst has pointed to …

Michael Barr, the vice chair for supervision for the United States Federal Reserve, warned banks of the potential risks of crypto-related activities, suggesting crypto service providers be subject to similar regulations as traditional financial institutions. In written remarks prepared for an Oct. 12 speech at D.C. Fintech Week, Barr seemed to encourage banks to explore issuing tokens on distributed ledger networks, but “only in a controlled and limited manner.” The Fed vice chair for supervision suggested financial institutions engage with U.S. regulators to ensure “safe, sound, and legally permissible” activities around use cases of innovative technologies like crypto and stablecoins. …

Custodia Bank founder Caitlin Long had a strong reaction to the news that BNY Mellon has launched a digital custody platform for Ether (ETH) and Bitcoin (BTC) holdings. Speaking at DC FinTech Week on Oct. 11, she made a comparison between the Federal Reserve’s actions and policies. BNY Mellon is the first large United States bank to offer the custody of digital assets and traditional investments on the same platform. The bank will store private keys and provide bookkeeping services. Custodia Bank, formerly known as Avanti, filed suit against the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and the Federal Reserve Bank …

Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael J. Hsu urged his fellow regulators not to lower their standards when dealing with crypto under the pressure of “being perceived as anti-innovation luddite.” According to the OCC, it’s necessary to “learn and smartly adapt” to ensure safety, soundness, and fairness regarding the industry. Hsu made his remarks on crypto during his speech at the Harvard Law School on Oct. 11. The full text of the speech was published on the OCC’s official website. Having started from his private experience example, Hsu criticized the rush and fear of missing out (FOMO) syndrome, which, in …

BNY Mellon has launched a digital custody platform to safeguards select clients' Ether and Bitcoin holdings on Oct. 11, making the America's oldest bank the first large bank in the country to offer custody of digital assets and traditional investments on the same platform. According to a statement, the bank will store private keys to access the funds and provide the same bookkeeping services offered to fund managers in other assets, such as stocks and bonds. "With Digital Asset Custody, we continue our journey of trust and innovation into the evolving digital assets space, while embracing leading technology and collaborating …

Three economists were awarded the Nobel Prize in economic sciences on Oct. 10 for their discoveries which are said to have improved “how society deals with financial crises." Ben Bernanke, Douglas Diamond and Philip Dybvig conducted research on the economic role played by banks during times of financial crisis. According to the Nobel Prize Organization, this research included an important finding on why it is not only important but “vital” to avoid the collapse of banks. Tore Ellingsen, the chair of the committee for the prize in economic sciences, said that: “The laureates’ insights have improved our ability to avoid …

In another round of investments in the crypto space, Singapore-based crypto bank MinePlex has secured $100 million from digital asset investment firm GEM Digital Limited (GEM), aimed at closing the gap between digital assets and traditional banking. According to an Oct. 11 announcement, MinePlex will use the funding to develop new banking technologies, including a collaboration with Mastercard and Visa for transactions accepting Tether (USDT), Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and TRON (TRX). Bringing digital assets and traditional banking services together is MinePlex's big bet. The platform offers fiat and crypto assets services within the same application, enabling transactions such as …

For all the doom and gloom surrounding crypto markets these days, there’s plenty to be excited about. Institutional investors are still actively buying Bitcoin (BTC), venture capital is still investing heavily into blockchain startups and forthcoming regulatory clarity is likely to pave the way for wider adoption, perhaps as early as next year. This week’s Crypto Biz newsletter features some exciting stories about adoption, not to mention Elon Musk’s deal to buy Twitter (finally). Sidebar: I had the opportunity to attend Circle Internet Financial’s Converge22 conference in San Francisco last week. In a media session on the sidelines of the …

According to a new study published by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, a supranational organization responsible for setting standards on bank capital, liquidity, and funding, 19 out of 182 global banks supervised by the committee reported ownership of digital assets. Combined, their total exposure to crypto is estimated to be €9.4 billion. In context, this represents 0.14% of the total risk-weighted asset composition of the 19 crypto-owning banks surveyed. When taken into account overall, cryptocurrencies only comprise about 0.01% of the total risk-weighted assets of all 182 banks under the Basel Committee's supervision. Two banks made up more than …