The Cryptocurrency Magazine is told that EQIBank, the world’s first licenced and regulated bank for national currencies, crypto and digital assets, expects to secure €50bn in custody assets by July 2019 and hold €10bn under deposit by the end of 2019.
Founded by former HSBC, Credit Suisse, Bank of New York and UBS bankers, EQIBank lets customers manage traditional and crypto assets within a single banking relationship for the first time. It is the first licensed and regulated bank ready to provide secure, consistent and scalable banking to the under-serviced cryptocurrency sector, which currently has a market capitalisation of US$210bn. This is why EQIBank is currently working with four of the top ten largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world to open accounts in December.
Sam Lee, Founder and CEO of Blockchain Global, told The Cryptocurrency Magazine: “The inability to bank cryptocurrency is probably the major challenge facing cryptocurrency exchanges globally with bank accounts constantly being denied or shut down for compliance reasons. EQIBank solves this problem by allowing exchanges and their clients to transact in cryptocurrency and national currency within the one regulatory and technology system in accordance with global banking compliance standards. It is a breakthrough for the blockchain industry as it provides banking certainty for businesses that involve blockchain and cryptocurrencies.”
Hirander Misra, CEO of GMEX Group and Chairman of MINDEX, added: “GMEX Group delivers the technology behind innovative exchanges and digital asset trading platforms across the globe. We are proud to be recognised as one of the powerhouses of the blockchain economy. However, the well-documented challenges around banking cryptocurrency are proving a major roadblock in this space, preventing blockchain from fulfiling its potential. EQIBank has made great strides in tackling this problem, allowing exchanges, businesses and individuals to bank in crypto and national currency – that’s why MINDEX our gold exchange initiative and our other exchange ventures across the globe will be using EQIBank.”
The opportunity is huge for a new breed of bank
Existing global banks hold over $143.75 trillion in assets but are burdened by legacy systems and cumbersome organisational structures. Their lack of flexibility is a key reason that challenger banks have gained such momentum. EQIBank is the first offshore challenger bank in the world – and technology sits at the core of its proposition, using cloud computing, digital services and blockchain technology to bridge the worlds of cryptocurrency and banking.
“Existing and new global clients are not adequately serviced by the current antiquated banking structure. Many regional and global banks have merely not scaled to meet the requirements of innovative industries like blockchain. The services of EQIBank are in huge demand by our Law Firm and clients. We hope to open as many as 1000 client accounts a month via our Foreign Direct Division of Yingke, Corporation China.” said Marco Pearman-Parish, President, Yingke Global – China’s largest law firm.
EQIBank anticipates a huge level of success is because it is unique in addressing the needs of many additional high-value markets:
The global bank of choice for hedge funds: EQIBank launched offshore where 85% of the world’s hedge funds are domiciled meaning that it is perfectly positioned to be the first choice for the fund industry
High-net-worth individuals: The global volume of net investable assets of high-net-worth individuals is expected to increase by around 25% to almost US$70 trillion by 2021 but challenger banks are simply not focused on this space. This is where EQI has a unique proposition to enable this market to manage national and crypto assets in a single banking relationship
Digital custody: The four largest global custody banks hold more than $91 trillion in assets under custody and administration. This provides a huge opportunity for EQIBank, which is targeting the clients of these traditional banks that have so far refused to provide custody services for cryptocurrency
EQIBank will be joined by onshore jurisdictions in Europe and Asia in early 2019 to better meet demand from all of these markets. To apply for a bank account today please visit EQIBank.com.
