• BNP Paribas, the largest banks in the eurozone, has announced it will start offering bitcoin custody services
• The bank has partnered up with Metaco, a digital asset custody firm from Switzerland with experience to bridge traditional banking existing infrastructure with bitcoin.
• Fireblocks will host a hot wallet and provide infrastructure-based services.

The partnership of BNP Paribas, a French-based international bank, with the Swiss company specializing in crypto infrastructure METACO has just been confirmed.

This alliance between the two companies means that BNP Paribas will now be able to advance its agenda of integrating security tokens into traditional finance. These tokens are the ones that would enable a digital issuance process and lifecycle, which is in line with the new EU regulation.

BNP Paribas Securities Services, the bank’s custodian subsidiary, is currently in charge of the custody of more than $12 trillion. METACO is a pioneer specializing in introducing cryptocurrency services to financial organizations. METACO has clients of global relevance, a few weeks ago, the french financial giant Societe Generale partnered with METACO, mainly to focus on security tokens.

METACO’s mission as a technology company is to enable both financial and non-financial institutions to “securely manage their digital asset business and take advantage of the booming digital asset economy.”

These developments are currently taking place in a context marked by the constant acceleration of market adoption of bitcoin and serious attempts of global players to find profitable business scenarios.

Upcoming EU directives are focused on enabling the processing of security tokens through insititutions that are compatible with the region’s applicable regulations.

Banks are starting to catch up with the innovation that Bitcoin(BTC) brought to the financial world. Banks such as German Bayern LB have experimented with Bitcoin(BTC) already years ago. Bank of America has recently made public that they believe Bitcoin(BTC) could continue to be successful. Towerbank of Panama has started to offer bitcoin services just like banks in Brasil, Israel or Japan.