BNY Mellon now allows customers to deposit their crypto holdings. The institution became the first American bank to provide custody of cryptocurrency.

Bank of New York Mellon (BNY Mellon) became the first U.S. bank to provide custody of cryptocurrencies. Earlier this fall, it received approval from the New York financial regulator to begin receiving Bitcoin and Ether for select customers starting this week, according to the WSJ report. The bank will hold the keys needed to access and transfer these assets and provide the same accounting services for these digital currencies that it offers to fund managers for their portfolios of stocks, bonds, commodities, and other assets.

While many Wall Street executives remain dubious about the potential of crypto and are keen to tread carefully, the firms have responded to calls from a growing number of clients of large investment firms to take on their traditional middleman role.

Money managers have long relied on BNY Mellon and other depository banks to perform a number of vital back-office functions. BNY Mellon is the largest depository bank in the world. BNY Mellon said it is the first of eight U.S. systemically important banks to hold digital currencies and allow customers to use a single custodial platform for both their traditional and crypto assets.

“We are excited to help drive the financial industry forward,” Robin Vince, BNY Mellon’s president and chief executive, said in a statement.

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