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United States-based investment bank Cowen has officially launched a new division that will enable institutional customers to trade with cryptocurrencies, the company said in a press release on 23 March.
According to the announcement, the bank’s new division, called Cowen Digital, was designed to offer institutional investors “full-service trade execution and custody solutions” for cryptocurrencies. The new service allows customers to trade between 16 different cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), USDC, AAVE, and others. The CEO of Cowen, Jeffrey M. Solomon, said in a statement:
“Through Cowen Digital, our clients now have access to the crypto and digital asset markets with our institutional quality and fully integrated end-to-end execution and custody capabilities. Cowen is committed to outperforming for its clients by staying at the forefront of innovation.”
The bank revealed its plans to enter the crypto market back in May 2021, when it partnered with Standard Custody and Trust Company, and also invested $25 million into PolySign, the parent company of Standard Custody. The Wednesday press release noted that the bank has been working on building up its infrastructure and systems for crypto trading for the past 15 months.
Cowen Digital also plans to grow its crypto business in the future, and include derivatives and futures trading, tools for managing decentralized finance (DeFi), as well as non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The bank has joined other traditional finance institutions in making moves in the digital asset space, such as Goldman Sachs which completed its first ever over-the-counter crypto transaction earlier this week, in partnership with Galaxy Digital.