Dutch Bank “ING” is Developing a Digital Asset Custodian Solution

With the growing interest in digital assets, Dutch multinational banking and financial services corporation, ING, is, once again, looking to expand its services into the emerging cryptocurrency industry by developing a custodian solution to store the digital assets of its clients, Reuters reported. 

Although the project is still at its early stage, ING believes that the crypto storage solution would give its clients access to cryptocurrencies without any regulatory issues. 

ING told Reuters in a written statement that they “see increasing opportunities with regard to digital assets on both asset-backed and native security tokens,” while adding that they are “particularly focused on developing the technology behind digital assets to give its clients a compliant way to access the emerging sector.”

According to the source, the project is “being run out of Amsterdam” and is just one of ING’s several blockchain projects.

Financial Firms and Crypto

An increasing number of financial corporations are now looking at how they benefit from the blockchain technology or offer a custodian solution and other related services in the crypto sector. 

Each financial institution has its area of focus and has either developed a blockchain solution or intending to. For instance, some banks have already created blockchain platforms for cross-border remittance and loan settlement to reduce the processing time and cost. 

Some have provided solutions to store customers’ cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ether, and some have built or hoping to develop solutions that will help institutional investors to convert traditional assets to digital assets and vice versa. 

In December 2018, Brazilian publicly quoted bank, Itaú Unibanco, became the first bank to adoption blockchain for loan settlement in Latin America after receiving a US$100m from Standard Chartered and Wells Fargo through a blockchain platform.

Similarly, over 200+ banks and financial institutions are reportedly in partnership with Ripple to utilize RippleNet for cross-border remittance and settlement. 

In October 2018, Fidelity Investment, an American multinational financial announced that it plans to roll out a cryptocurrency custodian and trading platform as part of its plans to bridge the gap between institutional investors and cryptocurrencies.