Dutch banking giant ING said to enter crypto custody space

According to Reuters,Netherlands based banking giant ING is working on a crypto custody solution. The project is being developed out of Amsterdam and is still in its early stages. In a statement provided to Reuters, the company stated that it “sees increasing opportunities with regard to digital assets on both asset-backed and native security tokens.”The project is said to be one of ING’s several blockchain initiatives moving forward.

Why it matters:

• The crypto Industry loves to speculate on how “the institutions are coming,” with respect to institutional investment into crypto. While institutional investment in crypto has been limited to date, institutions have arrived in another form: they’re building infrastructure. Fidelity, Intercontinental Exchange (through its subsidiary Bakkt), and Nomura have all either launched or planned crypto custody solutions.
• ING is the Netherlands’ largest financial institution with over $1 trillion in assets under management and a $45 billion market capitalization. The continued entrance of respected institutional players continues to validate the space to traditional institutions.