State Street Moves One Step Closer To Crypto With Latest Partnership

America’s long-serving financial provider State Street is looking to make a move into the crypto space after announcing its intention to provide its trading technology to a crypto startup.

Currenex Tech To Power Pure Digital Crypto Platform

According to the release, the US bank would partner with crypto startup Pure Digital to create a Bitcoin-focused trading platform for wholesale investors.

State Street’s Currenex trading technology would provide the trading infrastructure, and investors will be able to exchange their fiat for crypto assets in the digital currency trading platform.

Pure Digital is expected to launch in the middle of 2021 and hopes to pull significant interests from their existing banking relationships.

Per the announcement, Pure Digital would operate a fully automated, high throughput over-the-counter (OTC) market for digital assets and cryptocurrencies with physical delivery and bank custody for customers.

Investors will also trade on Pure Digital using bilateral credit, allowing for efficient capital utilization and control for participating investors.

State Street’s decision is likely informed by Coinbase’s announcement to go public on April 14. Coinbase, worth a reported $100 billion pre-IPO, is one of crypto’s unicorn exchanges in the business and recently posted staggering figures.

According to the largest US crypto exchange by trading volume, it had over 56 million verified users in Q1 2021 and 6.1 million transactions done in the platform on average. Its quarterly trading volume stood at $335 billion.

State Street’s technology deal with Pure Digital could see it make a foray into the crypto space in the nearest future.

David Newns, global head of execution services for GlobalLink at State Street Global Markets, pointed to the potential benefit Currenex would bring to the digital platform Pure Digital is looking to set up. According to Newns, Currenex would translate perfectly into the digital arena given its long use in the foreign exchange markets.

Pure Digital CEO Lauren Kiley said that this latest move results from the growing market demand for crypto assets. According to Kiley, financial institutions call for a crypto trading platform due to their customers’ growing demand.

State Street Joins A Growing Number Of US Banks Embracing Crypto

But Pure Digital and State Street’s recent partnership is not the first attempt from major financial firms. Chicago-based Northern Trust and Standard Chartered reportedly signed an agreement in December 2020 to offer custodial services for cryptocurrencies through a London-based company.

America’s oldest bank, the reputed Bank of New York (BNY) Mellon, also said it would be creating a digital assets infrastructure to hold and issue Bitcoin and a few cryptocurrencies in February 2021. Also, premier assets manager JPMorgan & Co launched its digital token called the JPM Coin and is actively eyeing a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).

According to a CNBC report, another wealth management firm Morgan Stanley launched three Bitcoin funds for its private clients in mid-March.

Aside from financial firms adopting cryptocurrencies, most especially Bitcoin, tech companies like Tesla Inc. and MicroStrategy are also bullish on digital assets.

But despite what many believe is a positive outlook for the crypto space, many legacy institutions are still reluctant to invest in digital assets. Their main reason being the volatility issues plaguing cryptocurrencies.