Banks around the world are beginning to soften their stance on cryptocurrency and offer digital asset services to their customers.
FV Bank just received the go-ahead from the Puerto Rico Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions (OFIC) to provide custodial services for digital assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum.
FV (fintech ventures) Bank sought permission from the Puerto Rico OFIC, reports Coindesk. The move comes after the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) opened the door for traditional banks to hold digital assets for their customers in July.
Says FV Bank CEO Miles Paschini,
“When the OCC came out with their opinion back in July, we saw that as an opening and went to our regulator and sought clarification and permission as a bank to provide custodial services to our customers. Our goal is to allow anyone, from an individual to an institution, to custody their digital assets and also have seamless banking services related to that custody.”
FV Bank joins several challenger banks that are beginning to offer crypto services. Major banks including Standard Chartered, DBS Bank of Singapore, and Argentina-based BBVA have also recently added crypto services.
In October of this year, DBS hinted at three new offerings for clients: cryptocurrency trading, custody, and a platform for conducting security token offerings. Three months later, DBS established its cryptocurrency exchange division known as the DBS Digital Exchange.
With a target launch date set for the first quarter of 2021, FV Bank has partnered with an unnamed custody tech infrastructure firm and will work with a few different over-the-counter (OTC) trading desks to gain liquidity in the market.
The banking institution will start out with a $20 million insurance cover that will grow commensurate with its assets under management, Paschini tells Coindesk.
FV Bank’s custodial services are available to institutional and retail customers who will be able to open encrypted private accounts that can hold both fiat and digital currencies, exchange between currencies, and use the bank’s internal real-time platform to settle institutional payments.
In addition, FV Bank will provide its account holders with cryptocurrency deposit addresses for every digital asset, as well as offer both online and mobile banking services.
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