America’s Second Oldest Bank to Start Crypto Trading in the Coming Months

With over $3 trillion in assets under management (AUM), State Street is ready to enter the cryptocurrency market by launching a crypto trading platform for institutions. The trading platform is expected to go live in the mid of this year through a partnership with the digital asset trading platform Pure Digital. The London-based startup for institutional investors will be using the infrastructure technology provided by State Street’s Currenex platform. “Currenex is thrilled to leverage our experience and expertise in the FX and digital asset trading marketplace to provide Pure Digital with robust technology and infrastructure for this exciting digital currency trading initiative,” David Newns, Global Head of Execution Services for State Street Global Markets, said in a statement. Pure Digital uses several banks as liquidity providers, custodians, and clearers to execute large trades. “We are excited to partner with Currenex, an industry leader in FX, on this initiative; as we work to transpose FX infrastructure to the crypto space via a bank-led consortium,” said Lauren Kiley, CEO of Pure Digital. The startup is building an over-the-counter (OTC) offering with bilateral credit lines and complete transparency. “Beware: Rational Reserve Bitcoin IOUs coming,” cautioned Caitlin Long, founder, and CEO of Avanti Bank & Trust, a digital asset bank. “Big banks bring big leverage to BTC. But leverage & bitcoin don't mix-won't end well for the banks,” she added. The two companies are planning to explore the crypto trading space further. Given that State Street is one of the world's biggest banks, “this could further speed up the process of attracting other Tier one banks,” said Torbjørn Bull Jenssen, CEO of Arcane Crypto, which backs Pure Digital. State Street is yet another leading bank to provide its expertise and use its own crypto trading platform. Already, the likes of BNY Mellon, JPMorgan, and Goldman Sachs have made their moves to offer Bitcoin (BTC) exposure and crypto custody to their clients as it has now become a risk for these banks to ignore the crypto sector. [deco-beg-single-coin-widget coin="BTC"]