- The bank is wary of risks associated with digital assets.
- The rumors about the bank’s plans were exaggerated.
The Netherland-based ABN Amro ditched its plans to launch a cryptocurrency storage solution due to the high level of the risks involved.
In January, it was rumored that the bank had been working on a service that would allow users to store private keys from their cryptocurrency wallets in a secure way. The solution was said to be tested by 500 bank’s customers.
However, as it turned out, the bank only surveyed 500 customers, if it should offer a digital wallet solution.
“We have approached all the people who have shown interest. We have concluded that cryptocurrencies because of their unregulated nature are at the moment too risky assets [sic] for our clients to invest in,” the bank’s senior press officer, Jarco de Swart explained in an email Hard Fork.
Initially, the ABN AMRO’s solution was supposed to work as a custodian service where the bank holds private keys of the customers. Many cryptocurrency experts were worried at that time as it was supposed to be unwise to render someone your private keys.
“Not your keys, not your coins,” the saying goes.
Meanwhile, back in June 2018, ABN Amro Clearing launched a blockchain platform for trading securities and financial derivatives in partnership with NASDAQ, EuroCCP, and Euroclear.