US Bank launches bitcoin custody service

Widely reported by CNBC and other sources.

U.S. Bank, the fifth biggest retail bank in the nation, announced on Tuesday that its cryptocurrency custody service is available to fund managers.

The offering will help investment managers store private keys for bitcoin, bitcoin cash and litecoin with assistance from sub-custodian NYDIG.

In the realm of custody banks, which verify and safeguard trillions of dollars of traditional assets for money managers, major players including Bank of New York Mellon, State Street and Northern Trust have all announced plans to custody digital assets.

U.S. Bank, which was founded during the Civil War in 1863, is a top ten player in custody with more than $8.6 trillion in assets under custody and administration, according to data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

In order to onboard a manager into the crypto product, U.S. Bank has to trace the origin of the client's funds in the industry's standard anti-money laundering and "Know Your Client" checks.