Dutch ING bank is developing a custodial service for crypto holders. It is part of its blockchain-based initiatives.
ING Bank from the Netherlands is working on a technology that will help its customers safely store their digital assets. Reuters shared this information, referring to people familiar with the situation.
According to the sources, the custodial project will be managed from Amsterdam where ING has its headquarters. The initiative is at the initial stage of its development. Besides, the bank is working on a few more projects in the field of blockchain.
To that end, it is noteworthy that in July 2019 ING co-created a blockchain-based trade-settlement platform Fnality International. Other world-leading banks joined in. The project aims at creating a network of decentralized Financial Market Infrastructures to deliver means of payment-on-chain in the banking sphere.
“We see that tokenization of assets and the use of distributed ledger technology offer huge potential for our industry,” says Annerie Vreugdenhil, head of Wholesale Banking Innovation at ING.
Blockchain and banking
In 2018, ING conducted a study and asked people across 13 countries in Europe, the USA, and Australia about their attitude to digital money. It showed that interest in the emerging technology will most likely double in the future. And that is despite the existing price fluctuations on the market.
According to the survey, 66% of Europeans heard about cryptocurrencies, and 9% – own them, 16% – plan to have cryptocurrencies in the future. Concurrently, 35% of Europeans deem bitcoin the future of online payments. Moreover, more than 27% of survey participants believe that banks should offer current accounts for crypto assets.
Overall, many financial institutions are considering the tokenization of securities and the introduction of blockchain technology to simplify and reduce the cost of transfers. Recently, Japanese Softbank bank introduced a blockchain wallet debit card.
