Wall Street giant BNY Mellon (now BNY) will offer crypto asset custody in Abu Dhabi, the UAE, the global financial services company announced on Thursday. It will initially launch Bitcoin and Ethereum crypto custody services, with plans of expanding to stablecoins, tokenized real-world assets, and other regulated digital instruments.
BNY Mellon Expands Crypto Custody to the UAE
BNY Mellon announced a strategic collaboration with Finstreet Limited and ADI Foundation to offer crypto custody in the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), according to a press release on May 7.
The world’s largest custodian, with $59.4 trillion in assets under custody, and the first U.S. global systemically important bank (G-SIB) to offer crypto custody in the region. The collaboration aims to boost crypto custody in the UAE and offers access to fully localized, secure, compliant, and scalable crypto custody services.
BNY will integrate Finstreet’s advanced digital market ecosystem with ADI Foundation’s sovereign-grade blockchain infrastructure. It aligns with the UAE’s push to become a global hub for digital finance.
“This strategic collaboration is an important step in further cementing Abu Dhabi’s place as a global digital asset hub,” said Ajay Bhatia, Principal Council Member at ADI Foundation.
Focus on Bitcoin, Ethereum, Stablecoins, and RWA Tokenization
BNY Mellon will initially focus on providing crypto custody for Bitcoin and Ethereum to Finstreet’s clients and ecosystem. The companies will later explore an extension to ADI Foundation’s blockchain rails.
Finstreet and ADI Foundation plan to gradually expand their product to include stablecoins, tokenized real-world assets, and other regulated digital instruments.
Hani Kablawi, Executive Vice Chair at BNY, said the custodian’s world-class capabilities and scale across capital markets will help the UAE to bridge traditional finance and the crypto industry, bringing financial instruments on-chain.
As CoinGape reported earlier, BNY Mellon has served as crypto and cash custodian for many crypto ETFs, including the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin ETF. The world’s largest custodial bank also launched tokenized deposits for institutional investors earlier this year.
Bitcoin and Ethereum prices jumped more than 0.30% and 0.50% in an hour amid the announcement. Bitcoin is trading at $81,550 while ETH is moving near $2,340 at press time.
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