Australia’s Largest Bank to Offer Bitcoin Services to Customers

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), or CommBank, revealed it will enable its clients to buy, sell, and hold cryptocurrencies, including the leading ones – bitcoin and ether. Thus, the financial institution will become the first in the country to offer such opportunities.

The Answer to The High Demand

As the official announcement reads, the initiative will become live due to a collaboration between the Australian bank, the cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, and the blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis.

CBA will add a new feature where users can operate with up to ten selected digital assets, including Bitcoin, Ether, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin. The pilot is set to start in the following weeks, while the bank vowed to roll out even more cryptocurrency services in 2022.

Researchers from CommBank have determined that an increasing number of customers are willing to employ such assets as an investment instrument and have already started dealing with them through numerous trading venues. The bank’s CEO – Matt Comyn – noted:

“The emergence and growing demand for digital currencies from customers creates both challenges and opportunities for the financial services sector, which has seen a significant number of new players and business models innovating in this area.”

However, Aussies have expressed concerns regarding some of the digital asset services in the market like the “friction of using third party exchanges, the risk of fraud, and the lack of trust in some new providers,” Comyn added. Being a leading bank in Australia, CBA believes it needs to step in and provide a “trusted and secure experience” for its crypto-hungry customers.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia, with its nearly $1 trillion in assets under management, is the largest local bank that stretches across Australia, New Zealand, Asia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. It provides various financial services, including retail, business, institutional banking, fund management, insurance, investment, and broking services.

Australia Aiming to Become a Crypto-Friendly Nation

Last month, the Australian Senate Committee advised that the country should impose favorable cryptocurrency regulations such as tax discounts for digital asset trading to encourage the development of the industry.

Senator Andrew Bragg – Head of the Committee – opined that creating a comprehensive regulatory framework could grant more independence to local crypto traders instead of endlessly relying on unnecessary intermediaries.

Additionally, on a macro level, Australia will be able to compete with leading nations like the USA, Singapore, and the UK.

Featured Image Courtesy of Pymnts