BNP Paribas is getting into crypto custody services

BNP Paribas, one of the world’s largest banking groups, is reportedly considering partnering with a digital asset custody firm Metaco. The French bank, with almost $13 trillion in assets under custody, joins a long list of institutional firms, including Fidelity and Société Générale looking to offer crypto services for their clients.

BNP Paribas, the French banking giant with $13 trillion in assets under custody, is reportedly partnering up with Metaco to potentially offer crypto custody services to own clients, making it the latest institutional powerhouse to start dipping its toes into the crypto sector.

Swiss company Metaco, which specializes in digital asset custody for institutional clients, also provides crypto trading and decentralized finance (DeFi) onboarding services. Other prominent banks, such as Société Générale and Citigroup, have recently come to Metaco for crypto custody deals.

BNP Paribas – the second largest banking group in Europe and the ninth biggest in the world – is not the only banking giant showing interest in the crypto space.

Société Générale’s digital asset subsidiary, SG-Forge, was recently added to DeFi stablecoin issuer MakerDAO’s vaults; the bank will be able to borrow up to $30 million in DAI from the protocol. Another institution, US-regulated Huntingdon Valley Bank, can take out up to $100 million.

Lately, asset management companies around the world have also been looking into providing custody services for their clients. Among them, US investment firm Fidelity has indicated plans to expand its product offering by adding Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies to their digital asset platform.

Also, Arab Bank Switzerland chooses the Tezos token (XTZ) to facilitate institutional custody service. Last October, the bank announced its plan to integrate staking, custody, and trading services onto XTZ, the Tezos blockchain’s native token, to provide a digital asset environment for institutions, corporations, and high net-worth individuals. This announcement comes amid the token’s recent price surge, which led it to a new all-time high.

The banking organization, founded in 1962, has selected Tezos to develop a new set of “innovative and compliant” on-chain digital financial products in the hope of benefiting from the ecosystem’s inherent focus on energy conservation, low-gas fees, and fast upgrades.