Cowen Investment bank, a century-old investment solution provider announced today that they would be offering Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency custody services to hedge funds and asset managers. The bank has become the first wall street giant to offer institution-grade custody service in association with Standard Custody and Trust co. The investment bank is also investing $25 million in PolySign Inc.
Jeffrey Solomon, Cowen’s chief executive officer, said in an interview.
“The demand is here. We’re going to be able to help a lot of our institutional clients get over the hump and start trading digital assets in the not-too-distant future.”
Solomon went onto add that the decision was purely based on growing demand and explained,
“If you’re an institutional investor with a fiduciary requirement, the bar is extremely high for you to put investments in any asset that does not have a clear chain of custody that you can access at a moment’s notice,” he said. “Even if you had a view on the asset class, if you can’t demonstrate custody then you can’t trade it.”