State Street Corporation, one of the oldest financial firms in the US, announced yesterday that it has launched a new dedicated digital finance unit to focus on cryptocurrency assets, Blockchain and tokenization.
According to an announcement, the company has appointed Nadine Chakar as the Head of the new division. Dubbed ‘State Street Digital’, the newly launched unit will support cryptocurrency assets. Additionally, the company is planning to enhance its current digital finance capabilities.
State Street is one of the largest financial firms around the world. The company has more than $40.3 trillion worth of assets under custody along with $3.6 trillion in assets under management. State Street has nearly 39,000 employees across the world.
Commenting on the latest announcement, Ron O’Hanley, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of State Street Corporation, said: “The financial industry is transforming to a digital economy, and we see digital assets as one of the most significant forces impacting our industry over the next five years. Digital (cryptocurrency) assets are quickly becoming integrated into the existing framework of financial services, and it is critical we have the tools in place to provide our clients with solutions for both their traditional investment needs as well as their increased digital needs.”
Cryptocurrency Adoption
Since the start of 2021, the adoption of cryptocurrency assets has increased rapidly. Financial services companies including Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanely have started offering cryptocurrency services to wealthy clients. In a research note published in April 2021, JPMorgan’s strategists gave Bitcoin a long-term price target of $130,000. With the launch of a dedicated digital finance division, State Street is planning to take advantage of the growing interest in the cryptocurrency market.
“The objective is to evolve the platform into a multi-asset platform to support cryptocurrency assets among other asset classes. The aim will also be to support our peer-to-peer ambitions by creating new Liquidity venues for our clients and investors worldwide,” State Street mentioned in the official announcement.
