HSBC Wary of Crypto, Yet Sees Use Cases
Cryptovest
Published Jul 19, 2018 02:18PM ET
HSBC Wary of Crypto, Yet Sees Use Cases
The London-headquartered banking giant HSBC is quite familiar with cryptocurrencies, but it prefers to look at them carefully, global head of digital Josh Bottomley told Forbes.
In an interview published by the news outlet on Thursday, Bottomley acknowledged that certain virtual coins could be helpful for particular purposes. At the same time, there is a line between funding new digital projects through digital token sales and using crypto for speculative ends, the HSBC director, previously global head of Google’s display business, explained.
“[T]hat is very different to if it’s pure speculation,” he noted with reference to established virtual currencies like Bitcoin (ETH ). At the moment, Bottomley said, HSBC is “not interested in that at all.”
The London-based bank’s watchful position regarding digital coins falls in line with the typically skeptical attitude of banking institutions. Although there are some large players in the finance sector like Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) and Nasdaq that have expressed willingness to integrate crypto into their services, others have gone as far as to forbid their clients from using their credit cards to purchase digital coins. Prominent examples are Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), Citigroup (NYSE:C) and JP Morgan.
Asked whether HSBC has plans to review its reluctance to touch upon major cryptocurrencies, Bottomley said the bank does not plan to invest in such assets, but that this “might change” over time.
“One of the criteria we use is if an asset class is showing incredible volatility up and down. For the vast majority of our customers, that makes it an inappropriate saving or investment vehicle.”
Notably, while HSBC is crypto-cautious, it has embraced blockchain opportunities. Following a pilot of a blockchain-based trade finance transaction that HSBC and ING carried out in May, the London-based bank will launch a blockchain trade finance platform in September together with 20 other banks including Standard Chartered (LON:STAN).
HSBC is the biggest European bank and seventh-largest in the world with assets totaling over $2.37 billion, as per the latest S&P Global Market Intelligence This article appeared first on Cryptovest
Get The News You Want
Written By: Cryptovest
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.