Wall Street Bank Cowen Launches Spot Crypto Trading for Institutions (Report)

Institutional clients of the New York-based independent investment bank will be able to get spot crypto trading services. This comes after multiple other Wall Street investment banks started offering various digital asset features, but not spot trading.

• Bloomberg reported on March 23 Cowen Inc’s new offering, allowing institutional investors to trade crypto, putting the bank “at the front of Wall Street’s push into the expanding industry.”
• To do so, the bank has set up a new branch – called Cowen Digital – and has added 16 of the largest cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana.
• The bank has also partnered with Standard Custody & Trust Co, which will serve as the digital assets’ custodian.
• After years of bashing the crypto industry, Wall Street started softening its stance last year, and numerous banks launched different services allowing their clients to receive some sort of digital asset exposure.
• BNY Mellon and Morgan Stanley are among the leaders in terms of adoption, while well-known former critics, such as JPMorgan, Bank of America, Citigroup, and Goldman Sachs, are not far behind.
• However, Bloomberg’s coverage noted that Cowen will be one of the leaders for spot crypto trading.

“We have a big first-mover advantage in this space. Because of our culture, we’re able to work with our legal compliance and our regulators in a way that maybe our bigger competitors aren’t, and we’re just able to get to solutions faster.” – said the bank’s co-president, Dan Charney.

• Cowen also plans to introduce cryptocurrency derivatives and futures trading soon, as well as lending and institutional access to DeFi platforms and NFTs.

Featured Image Courtesy of Broadmoor Partners