BNY Mellon, the globe's largest custodian bank with nearly $59.4 trillion in assets under custody, is expanding its digital asset custody services to Abu Dhabi. The initiative, announced Thursday, will operate within the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) regulatory framework. This expansion underscores the increasing institutional interest in regulated cryptocurrency infrastructure within the Middle East.
The initial phase will concentrate on providing custody services for Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) to institutional clients. BNY Mellon is partnering with local firms Finstreet and ADI Foundation to develop and implement these services. The collaboration aims to offer secure, compliant, and scalable crypto custody solutions, aligning with the UAE's ambition to become a leading hub for digital finance.
Looking ahead, BNY Mellon plans to broaden its crypto offerings to include stablecoins, tokenized real-world assets, and other regulated digital instruments. Hani Kablawi, Executive Vice Chair at BNY, emphasized the custodian's commitment to bridging traditional finance and the crypto industry, bringing financial instruments on-chain within the UAE.
This move follows BNY Mellon's earlier launch of a digital asset custody platform in the U. S., making it the first systemically important U. S. bank to store digital currencies alongside traditional holdings. The expansion into Abu Dhabi further solidifies BNY Mellon's position as a key player in the evolving digital asset landscape.
