Bloomberg: Wall Street giants are optimistic about potential opportunities in the crypto custody space, awaiting election results and regulatory clarity

ChainCatcher news, according to Bloomberg, so far, crypto-native companies like Coinbase Global Inc. and BitGo Inc. have been the dominant service providers, while traditional financial firms mostly remain in a holding pattern due to concerns over regulatory uncertainty surrounding digital assets.

Although the current custody market is only about $300 million, the business remains attractive, with companies like Fireblocks Inc. estimating an annual growth rate of around 30% for the industry.

Leading custody banks such as BNY Mellon, State Street Corp., and Citigroup Inc. have begun to dip their toes into the cryptocurrency custody space or have expressed interest. Despite facing setbacks, these companies are experimenting, with many plans focused on the protection of tokenized assets.

For example, JPMorgan Chase & Co. operates a project called Onyx, which allows blockchain payments between bank clients. In December last year, a custody trust and clearing company acquired Securrency to provide products for tokenizing traditional financial assets. In August of this year, State Street chose the vendor Taurus for the tokenization and custody of digital asset services.

One major issue hindering the entry of established financial institutions is a U.S. SEC regulation known as SAB 121, which prevents highly regulated financial companies from offering cryptocurrency custody services. President Biden vetoed efforts by Congress to overturn the rule. Several banks have received exemptions.