It is believed that over half of the top hundred banks in terms of assets under management are investors in key cryptocurrency and blockchain-based startups and initiatives.
Reports indicate that global financial behemoths are growing their involvement in the nascent crypto and blockchain industries, including through early and late-stage funding for initiatives and enterprises in the space.
A study by Blockdata, a blockchain market intelligence company, found that 56 of the top-100 banks in terms of assets under management (AUM) have some level of exposure to the emerging technology.
This interest, according to reports, extends to both direct and indirect investments in cryptocurrency and decentralised ledger technology companies either by the bans themselves or through their subsidiaries….
Barrington, Citigroup, and Goldman Sachs are among the most active investors in crypto and blockchain companies, according to Blockdata’s analysis, with JPMorgan and BNP Paribas also recognised as serial investors in the nascent field.
KPMG research shows that these investments are part of a broader trend of considerable support for blockchain firms, with financing figures already more than doubling those seen in 2020.
Additionally, according to the findings, crypto custody is a big emphasis area for banks looking to enter the cryptocurrency market.
According to the Financial Times, about a quarter of the top-100 banks by assets under management (AUM) are either developing cryptocurrency custody solutions or investing in firms that provide custodial services for digital assets.
Indeed, as previously reported by Cointelegraph, a number of institutions in the United States, Asia, and Europe are developing crypto custody platforms as part of their initial push into the cryptocurrency market..
According to Blockdata, the increased crypto and blockchain involvement among banks can be ascribed to three primary factors: the exploding earnings of cryptocurrency startups, legislative developments, and an increasing demand among bank clients for exposure to digital assets.
Earlier this year, NYDIG president Yan Zhao remarked that the large revenues generated by cryptocurrency trading companies such as Coinbase were prompting banks to re-evaluate their original aversion to participating in the cryptocurrency space.
Despite the fact that the teams working for these major cryptocurrency organisations are substantially smaller, they have a massive revenue potential.
To put it another way, Coinbase is valued at $58.09 billion, which is less than half the value of Goldman Sachs, the world’s 13th largest bank despite the fact that it employs only approximately 4% of the latter’s total staff.
