America’s oldest bank, BNY Mellon, will become the first service provider for a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) launched by Antoni Scaramucci’s SkyBridge and First Trust Advisors, pending approval.
According to a press release, if the SEC approves the ETF, BNY Mellon will provide several services for institutional clients, such as ETF basket operation, order taking, fund accounting, fund administration, and transfer agency services.
The announcement follows the company’s plans to expand the adoption and use of cryptocurrencies. According to a BNY Mellon spokesperson, this strategic partnership is “part of the larger movement to bring digital assets mainstream.”
“The growing interest in digital assets presents a compelling opportunity to allow investors to explore cryptocurrency and we are proud to work with First Trust to bring their new Bitcoin ETF to market, This marks another great example of bringing our strategy as a global orchestrator and innovator to life and highlights great work by our market-leading ETF services team.” — said Alan Flanagan, Global Head of Fund Services, Asset Servicing at BNY Mellon.
BNY Mellon first announced in custody and issuance of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies on behalf of institutional clients. The bank will handle crypto funds the same way it would with traditional assets.
Shortly after, BNY Mellon and Silicon Valley Bank injected over $130 million in a Series C funding round raised by Fireblock —a digital custody platform with over 200 active clients.
The move follows Fireblock’s plans to expand crypto adoption and provide custody to institutional clients as demand for crypto-assets increases.
As reported by CryptoPotato, Scaramucci is bullish on high-market cap currencies, mainly Bitcoin and Ethereum. He recently put a price target of $100,000 for BTC by the end of the year, highlighting massive demand.
He referred to the limited supply of Bitcoin and how firms like MicroStrategy have allocated large amounts of BTC for their clients, driving prices up alongside trading volumes on crypto exchanges.
SkyBridge is one of the latest fund managers that filed with the securities and exchange commission (SEC) to launch a Bitcoin ETF, together with other investment giants such as Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and VanEck.