BNY Mellon Launches Crypto Asset Custody Services in Ireland
BNY Mellon launched crypto asset custody services in the country, despite Ireland’s central bank’s warning to investors about risks with crypto investments.
America’s oldest bank, BNY Mellon, has been riding the crypto wave, and no sign for an end, as the bank continues with its cryptocurrency endeavors by planning to release custodial services in Ireland through its local branch.
At the same time, Ireland’s central bank announced ‘great concerns’ related to the popularity rise of bitcoin and other digital assets, in order to protect the investors.
The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, or as known today as BNY Mellon, is America’s oldest banking organization. Since the beginning of the 2021, the bank has been bullish on the cryptocurrency industry or at least on providing crypto services, sand became one of the first US giants to offer custodial services in the country.
According to Business Post article, the banking corporation will expand its initiative to Ireland as well through a new digital asset unit set in Dublin.
Dubbed as “Digital Innovation Hub,” it will be regulated by the nation’s central bank and will act as a custodian for cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) when launched.
In other words, the institution will enable its clients to hold, transfer, and issue digital assets.
Crypto’s Rise a Great Concern for Central Bank of Ireland
BNY Mellon’s Irish initiative comes at an intriguing time as central bankers worldwide have repeatedly warned about the potential threats related to cryptocurrency investments. In fact, a top official from the Central Bank of Ireland, Derville Rowland, also joined this trend recently.
Cited by Bloomberg, Rowland described crypto assets as “quite a speculative, unregulated investment.” Similarly to the governor of England’s Central Bank, she warned current and future investors about the possibilities of losing all of their money should they allocate any funds in them.
Rowland is set to take over as chairwoman of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA)’s investment management standing committee in July this year. ESMA is responsible for preparing regulations for the financial industry.
As such, her negative views on the cryptocurrency industry could lead to strict regulations in Europe, a topic that has become even more relevant in recent months following the substantial appreciations in USD value in the market. In fact, she classified this crypto rise as a “great concern” for the financial space.
