BNY Mellon says investors ‘absolutely interested’ in digital assets

(This Feb. 8 story has been corrected to fix Michael Demissie’s job title in paragraph 1)

By Samuel Indyk

LONDON (Reuters) – Bank of New York Mellon’s head of advanced solutions Michael Demissie said on Wednesday that digital assets were “here to stay”, citing a 2022 study of the custodian bank’s clients. 

    “What we see is clients are absolutely interested in digital assets, broadly,” BNY Mellon’s Demissie said, speaking on a panel on cryptocurrency at Afore Consulting’s 7th Annual FinTech and Regulation Conference. 

Demissie cited a survey of BNY Mellon clients conducted in October 2022 that found that more than 90% of them expected to invest in tokenised assets in the near future.

Cryptocurrency markets plunged in 2022, as rising interest rates and a series of high-profile collapses at crypto firms made investors cautious.     

Demissie also said that deeper regulation was required. 

    “It’s important that we navigate this space in a responsible way,” Demissie said. 

“We absolutely need clear regulation and rules for the road. We need responsible actors who can offer reliable services that live up to investors trust.”  

(Reporting by Samuel Indyk and Elizabeth Howcroft; editing by Amanda Cooper and Alex Richardson)