Despite the incessant clamor for the lack of regulatory clarity in the U.S., the biggest banks are already offering cryptocurrency-related services. As reported by Bloomberg, JPMorgan Chase & Co, Goldman Sachs Group Inc, and Morgan Stanley are notably offering crypto futures trading to their clients. This is coming at a time when banks in the second-largest economy, China, are clamping down on all crypto-related offerings.
US Banking Heavy-weights Riding Crypto Bandwagon
The rate of the embrace of digital assets in the past year has caused a shift in customer demands across the board. At the request of clients, a number of banks in the US and around the world are beginning to explore ways to offer crypto services, albeit, many of the proposed potential offerings are being marred by regulations. This is at least the claim made by Goldman Sachs Chief Executive Officer David Solomon in Congressional testimony earlier this month.
“We do clear Bitcoin futures,” he said. “We provide advice to clients, particularly institutions, and high net worth individuals that have an interest in gaining exposure, although often they go to other places to gain those exposures.”
At present, only Bank of America offers crypto futures settlement alongside the three major banks. Morgan Stanley, however, extended its overreach by providing crypto products to its wealthy clients according to the charts provided by Bloomberg as shown below.
Are Other Banks Billed to Follow Suit？
The turn of 2021 opened up access to a growing number of institutional demands for Bitcoin, and other digital assets. Just as the Goldman boss noted, clients are liable to seek the services they desire in places that offer it, a situation most banks are unwilling to experience. Some of the banks with the embrace of crypto futures today, including Goldman Sachs, once talked negatively about the crypto ecosystem.
Time has changed these banking giants perceptions, and while UBS is mulling providing crypto services for its rich clients, other banks including Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank (considering crypto custody services), BNP Paribas, and HSBC are neither offering nor considering offering any crypto-related services.
As the crypto ecosystem matures, and more regulations are introduced to govern the ecosystem, we are likely to see a shift in stance from these banks current position.