The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) is becoming the first commercial bank in the country to launch cryptocurrency services for its customers that can be accessed directly from the existing banking application.
The Aussie bank will support buying, selling and holding of Cryptocurrencies and has partnered with New York-based Gemini Trust for offering the exchange and custodian services. It has also tapped the services of Chainalysis for compliance and Risk Management needs.
According to the bank, the decision to introduce new services was made as a large number of its customers want to access crypto assets as an investment class. This step by the bank will bring crypto to its 6.4 million customers.
“The emergence and growing demand for digital currencies from customers create both challenges and opportunities for the financial services sector, which has seen a significant number of new players and business models innovating in this area,” said the bank’s CEO, Matt Comyn.
Pilot in 'Coming Weeks'
Initially, the bank will offer access to ten major digital currencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin.
The pilot program of the new crypto services is expected to be launched in the ‘coming weeks’, while the full roll-out with additional features is planned for next year.
Meanwhile, the Aussie financial markets regulator is taking much interest in the growing crypto space. It recently issued a warning against offshore unlicensed crypto exchanges that usually offer crypto derivatives.
“Customers have expressed concern regarding some of the crypto services in the market today, including the friction of using third party exchanges, the risk of fraud and the lack of trust in some new providers. This is why we see this as an opportunity to bring a trusted and secure experience for our customers,” Comyn added.
