Garanti, one of the largest banks in Turkey, has made a major announcement today that has sent shockwaves through the industry. The details revealed in an email by Webrazzi have excited cryptocurrency investors. However, Garanti BBVA has confirmed the rumors and delivered even more exciting news in an official statement.
Garanti BBVA Cryptocurrency Services
The first leak regarding the bank’s cryptocurrency wallet service came this morning. Now, the bank has directly addressed the issue with an official statement. According to the information shared by Garanti BBVA, the first venture of Garanti BBVA Financial Technologies Inc., a subsidiary of Garanti BBVA, is Digital Assets Inc.
With the Cryptocurrency Savings Wallet service, customers will be able to store and transfer their Bitcoin and Ethereum (ETH) assets. Garanti BBVA Deputy General Manager and Garanti BBVA Digital Assets Board Chairman M. Çağrı Süzer stated:
“There is a worldwide interest in blockchain technologies. Our country is leading in the production and use of new financial technologies in many areas. Last year, we established one of the largest teams in our region to prioritize the development of qualified, experienced, and globally capable resources. As the first result of this effort, Digital Assets Inc., a new venture of Garanti BBVA Financial Technologies Inc., started its operations as the first organic investment of a banking subsidiary. Our application, which is currently in beta version, will initially provide storage services for BTC and ETH through the Cryptocurrency Savings Wallet and will continue its work with an expanding product and service structure in the future.”
Banks to Provide Cryptocurrency Services
The activities carried out by BlackRock, Fidelity, and others in the US and EU regions have also excited Turkish investors. However, Garanti Bank has taken the biggest concrete step in this field in Turkey. The efforts of banks to become cryptocurrency service providers, considering the problems experienced by cryptocurrency investors in the past, are truly exciting. Especially when we consider investors who have been excluded by many banks and had their accounts closed due to transfers to exchanges, the situation becomes even more intriguing.
According to Webrazzi, Garanti BBVA will also start offering cryptocurrency trading services in the future. This means that bank customers will be able to buy and sell cryptocurrencies through the bank, just like gold, silver, and dollar transactions.
