Despite the growing acceptance of cryptocurrencies among institutional and retail investors, HSBC maintains its policy of avoiding virtual currencies and stocks that are correlated to them.
Because of lingering concerns about crypto’s role in money laundering and criminal activity, Europe’s largest bank, with total assets of $2.715 trillion, is likely to avoid Coinbase’s newly listed COIN stock.
HSBC has no desire for direct exposure to virtual currencies and has a limited desire to facilitate products or securities whose value is derived from virtual currencies. This is not a new policy,» HSBC corporate media relations manager Ankit Patel told cryptocurrency news platform Coindesk.
The bank confirmed last week that it had barred customers of its online trading platform InvestDirect from adding MicroStrategy stock to their portfolios, referring to them as a “virtual currency product.” The company owns approximately $5.5 billion in bitcoin, accounting for approximately 80% of its $6.8 billion market capitalisation.
Cryptocurrency Has Entered the Mainstream
Coinbase debuted on Nasdaq in a direct listing last Wednesday, seen as another important step towards cryptocurrencies becoming a mainstream medium of exchange.
Because of Coinbase’s listing, even if average investors do not want to buy or sell cryptocurrencies on their own, they can still invest in the cryptocurrency economy by owning a stake in one of its largest players. After one day of trading, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States had a market capitalisation of $86 billion.
Financial behemoths join the fray
To remain competitive in the face of client demand for digital assets, financial sector behemoths have expanded their offerings. BNY Mellon, which announced the launch of crypto custodial services, and Morgan Stanley, which will roll out a bitcoin offering to wealth management clients and is reportedly considering Bitcoin exposure through its investment arm, Counterpoint Global, are two examples. Goldman Sachs has also stated that it will offer its wealth clients investments in bitcoin and other digital assets.
Standard Chartered and DBS are two notable global banks that have launched crypto offerings outside of the United States.