TL;DR Breakdown
- Citibank may begin crypto trading and crypto custody services soon.
- Other American banks thinking about providing crypto services.
Popular American bank Citibank is ruminating on delving into the crypto space by providing crypto trading and custody services.
This is according to the bank’s global head of foreign exchange, Itay Tuchman. He told Financial Times in a report they published on Friday that Citibank is experiencing a rise in interest from large clients since last August.
He notes that there are different options which the banks are considering so they can best serve its client. “This is not going to be a prop-trading effort,” said Tuchman, referring to proprietary trading in which banks trade with their own money to make a profit.
Tuchman reveals that the bank is in no rush to begin offering crypto services to its clients and said that Citibank would only be a crypto trading and custody service when it is confident it can build something that benefits clients regulators can support.
He highlights that this is just the beginning of the crypto market. Hence, they are no latecomers in the industry.
“I don’t have any FOMO [fear of missing out] because I believe that crypto is here to stay and that we are just at the very beginning of the market,” he said. “This isn’t a space race. There is room for more than just one flag.”
Citibank and Crypto in the past
A month back, the bank published a report stating that Bitcoin may become an international trade currency as it evolves. The bank said then that perception about the cryptocoin was only beginning to develop, and it could create new opportunities as it becomes mainstream.
The bank joins other American giant banks that are considering breaking into the crypto space. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Bank of New York Mellon, and others have moved to provide crypto services to their clients.
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