U.S. Bank announces crypto custody services for Bitcoin

Key Takeaways:

• U.S. Bank, the fifth-largest retail bank in America, announced the launch of crypto custody services.
• Lawmakers in the U.S introduce bill to analyze cryptocurrency’s role in ransomware attacks.
• Bitcoin prices broke past $53k on Oct 6.

NEW DELHI (CoinChapter.com) — Institutional adoption of Bitcoin is growing, with the fifth-largest retail bank in America, US Bank, launched cryptocurrency custodial services for Bitcoin. Institutional investment managers with private funds in the US or the Cayman Islands can now store their private keys with the bank.

New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG) will act as the bank’s first sub-custodian. US Bank was already working with NYDIG to administer the technology firm’s Bitcoin ETF, awaiting US SEC approval. Apart from Bitcoin, the bank would provide custodial services for Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash too.

With crypto’s growing adoption, US lawmakers are moving to understand better how it is used. In this regard, Senator Elizabeth Warren and Congresswoman Deborah Ross introduced the Ransom Disclosure Act bill. The bill would require ransomware attack victims to disclose information about ransom payments.

Meanwhile, BTC prices continue their upwards rally as Bitcoin bulldozed resistance at $53k on Wednesday, closing Tuesday above $51k. However, Bitcoin still needs to push above $55,000 before it can reclaim its previous ATH.

Bank, Bills and Bitcoin

US Bank’s announcement highlights increased interest in crypto by mainstream financial players. Several custody banks, institutions responsible for safeguarding trillions of dollars in traditional assets, have already announced plans to custody digital assets.

As interest in cryptocurrency increases among institutional investors, we’re excited to partner with @NYDIG_BTC to offer our clients an industry-leading safekeeping solution for Bitcoin. Learn more: https://t.co/xcNquYAzYI pic.twitter.com/VxE9CYqS8g

— U.S. Bank (@usbank) October 5, 2021

US Bank is the fifth-largest bank in America, with more than $8.6 trillion in assets under custody and administration. Gunjan Kedia, the bank’s vice-chair of the bank’s wealth management and investment services division, surveyed client interest regarding crypto custody services.

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Ms. Kedia found that interest in the service was broad, with clients wanting the bank to move quickly.

Our fund and institutional custody clients have accelerated their plans to offer cryptocurrency and, in response, we made it a priority to accelerate our ability to offer custody services.”

Gunjan Kedia, vice chair, U.S. Bank Wealth Management and Investment Services, said

Additionally, the bank would follow stringent security measures, including KYC checks and tracing the origin of a client’s funds, before onboarding a manager to its crypto fund, Ms. Kedia assured.

Meanwhile, NYDIG CEO Robert Gutmann said the firm was excited to partner with US Bank. The co-founder of NYDIG promised investors best-in-class experience with a “custody solution that meets the highest security, compliance and regulatory standards.”

In other news, US lawmakers introduced a bill that requires ransomware victims to share ransom payments information with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). As such, the Ransom Disclosure Act aims to curb illicit financial activities in the US.

Senator Warren said the bill was necessary as the government lacks ‘critical data‘ required to go after cybercriminals. Current laws exempt US investors from reporting ransomware payments, which Congresswoman Ross believes is critical to upgrade the nation’s cybersecurity.

The U.S. cannot continue to fight ransomware attacks with one hand tied behind our back.

said Congresswoman Ross

The bill comes when the SEC has requested Congress to clarify the status of digital assets.

BTC Price Chart

Bitcoin surged above $53,000 on Wednesday as the flagship crypto continued its week-long bull run. As such, BTC reclaimed the $53,000 price level after a month. After that, however, bulls would try to consolidate above $55k before targeting BTC’s ATH levels near $64k.

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BTC prices reached $55,343 before correcting, indicating the resistance near $55k ($54,998.35) is strong. The correction might result from profit-taking by traders who bought BTC near the $50k price levels before it crashed on Sept 7. Moreover, any further upside above $55k would meet with resistance at $56,057.

Interestingly, $56,057 acted as support during the BTC April bull run, in which it reached its ATH of $65,087. However, $57,299 would likely cap any upside above $56k. As such, Bitcoin would try to consolidate near $56k before trying another bull-run.

In case of a downside, BTC has support near $50,000, followed by support at $48,366. The 50-Day Moving Average and 20-Day Exponential MA form support near the $47k level ($46,988). Bitcoin is trading above its 50-Day and 200-Day MA trendlines, indicating a bullish trend across all time horizons.

Meanwhile, MACD continues to be bullish for Bitcoin. The MACD histogram bars continue to rise, indicating increasingly strong bullish momentum. The bars plot the difference between the MACD line (12-day and 26-day EMA difference) and its signal line (9-day EMA of MACD).

Though the relative strength index is currently neutral at 67.55, it is dangerously close to overbought regions. In detail, if an asset’s RSI goes above 70, it indicates a reversal might be in the cards. However, with strong fundamentals putting bullish tailwinds in BTC’s sail, a reversal may take some time to happen.

At the time of writing, BTC was trading at $53,484, up 3.75% on the day.