Barclays, a British multinational investment bank, has reportedly shelved its plans to launch a cryptocurrency trading desk. The London-based financial institution, which holds over $1.1 trillion in assets, had been working on a “digital assets project” that was being supervised by Chris Tyrer, the former global head of commodities at Barclays.
Marvin Barth, the head of forex and emerging macro strategy at Barclays, and Lee Braine, the chief technology officer at the bank, had also been reported as leading the UK-based financial services provider’s efforts in launching a cryptocurrency platform.
According to sources familiar with the project, Tyrer left his post (in September) at the bank after it was decided that Barclays would be postponing its plan to introduce a crypto trading platform.
Researching Blockchain, Crypto Operational Infrastructure
Other employees of the investment bank known to have been working on a crypto-related initiative include Matthieu Jobbe Duval, who previously served as director of Barclays’ oil options trading department.
Inside sources had also claimed that Duval and Tyrer had been exploring the viability of launching a digital assets trading platform. The pair had reportedly been researching cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology in order to determine what type of operational infrastructure would be best suited to introduce digital assets to Barclays’ customers.
However, Barclays’ crypto plans might have been put on hold due to the current lack of demand or interest from institutional investors. San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase, recently shut down its index service fund for high-net-worth-individuals (HNWIs) – as it failed to attract institutional investors due to the regulatory uncertainty and high volatility of crypto assets.
Uncertainty In Crypto Markets
While it is unclear exactly why Barclays has shelved its crypto-related plans, it is quite possible that the the UK-based financial institution’s clients may not be looking to invest in digital assets at this time. As CryptoGlobe reported, there is a great deal of uncertainty in the crypto markets due to issues related with Tether (USDT) and Bitfinex.
While it is understandable that market participants are concerned regarding Bitfinex’s rumored “insolvency” and questions, or doubts, about whether Tether actually has enough USD to back its supply of USDT, large financial institutions continue to express an interest in crypto assets.
As CryptoGlobe reported, Fidelity Investments, one of the world’s largest financial institutions with over $7.2 trillion of assets under management, announced it would be launching Fidelity Digital Assets Services – which aims to provide “enterprise-quality custody and trade execution services” for cryptocurrencies to institutional investors.
