The crypto industry has continued to evolve, and major traditional banks even in the U.S. are beginning to offer crypto trading services to their users.
On Tuesday, Dec. 9, the leading U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase, announced it had entered a notable partnership with PNC Bank, a major U.S. bank that offers exclusive financial services to customers in the region.
With this partnership, Coinbase and PNC bank will join hands to offer direct crypto services to its clients.
PNC becomes first U.S. bank to offer Bitcoin trading
Although the crypto ecosystem has continued to see surging interest from traditional banks, this partnership is exceptional, as PNC has become the first bank to offer direct Bitcoin trading among all major U.S. banks.
With support from Coinbase, PNC Bank has officially launched a new service that allows eligible private banking clients to buy, hold and sell Bitcoin directly through the bank itself.
According to the announcement shared by Coinbase, the crypto service is fully powered by Coinbase’s Crypto-as-a-Service (CaaS) infrastructure.
Thus, PNC is now officially the first major U.S. bank to bring direct Bitcoin access to its private clients. While the service is only limited to its private clients, PNC has further revealed that it plans to expand the service to institutional clients in the future.
Apparently, it is safe to say that the move aligns with Coinbase’s mission, as its Crypto-as-a-Service platform is designed specifically to help traditional banks and financial institutions to offer crypto services. The infrastructure aims to save them the stress of having to build or manage complex crypto infrastructure themselves.
Per the announcement, the partnership is targeted initially at high-net-worth clients within the PNC Private Bank division. As such, it will offer them integrated Bitcoin trading and custody, all within the PNC ecosystem.
With this development, PNC bank can now start providing secure Bitcoin trading and custody with the same experience that matches the banking standard expected by its clients.
Dan Burgin
Vladislav Sopov
U.Today Editorial Team