Vast bank will be the first commercial bank to offer its customers the possibility to make transactions in cryptocurrency. The bank, based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, has announced the launch of its new Crypto Banking service.
The Vast Bank Crypto Banking service
For now available to US-based account holders, this service represents another major step forward for the bank, which earlier this year became the first in the country to offer customers the ability to buy and sell certain cryptocurrencies with a traditional bank account (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano, Filecoin, Litecoin, Orchid, Algorand and Bitcoin Cash).
The Vast Bank Crypto Banking service is available via an intuitive mobile application that makes it easy to buy and sell cryptocurrencies directly with bank accounts, as in the now-classic home banking, which is now included as a service with every traditional bank account.
“More and more of our customers are asking about investing in cryptocurrencies”.
Bank CEO Brad Scrivner, interviewed by Forbes, said that this service was implemented to meet the growing demand from customers eager to invest in crypto.
“We take pride in getting to know our customers, and that starts with listening”, he said “At the heart of many of these conversations is crypto. For quite some time, our customers have been asking why they cannot securely purchase the likes of Bitcoin using their bank account, citing concerns over trustworthiness, safety, and the security of other platforms”.
According to Scrivner, a Gallup/inhouse survey at Vast showed that more than 60% of customers were interested in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
But the move towards approval by US regulators, as the bank’s CEO explains, was not an easy one, due to concerns from the Federal Reserve, which has always been sceptical and critical of the crypto world. Now Vast Bank, N.A. is the first federally authorized bank in the United States to offer the ability to buy, sell and hold cryptocurrencies, directly from a bank account.
“This is great news for the cryptocurrency community. It has historically been difficult for digital asset companies to even get banking services, much less to have a bank that provides digital asset services. I view this as a step in the right direction, and I suspect that we will see more banking/digital asset ventures in the future”,
said Judith Rinearson, partner at K&L Gates, a legal expert who helps navigate many cryptocurrency clients.
Interest in the crypto world grows in the US
According to some market research, the case of Vast bank will probably be just the first in a long line, considering how interest in cryptocurrencies is growing in the US. According to a recent survey by the University of Chicago, more than 1 in 10 Americans have invested in cryptocurrencies in the last year.
In particular, a detailed analysis of the research shows that 13% have bought or traded cryptocurrencies in the last 12 months, compared to around 24% of Americans who have invested in stocks in the same period of time.
New research by financial services company The Ascent, however, found that more than 20% of American adults who have never owned cryptocurrencies – over 50 million Americans – are likely to buy cryptocurrencies in the next year. It is easy to predict that many other US banks will soon follow Vast Bank’s example.
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