More and more customers of traditional banks and financial institutions are seeking ways to retain their monetary freedom and find new methods of investing. Crypto’s popularity is growing steadily every day, and there are now several banks seeking to provide their clients with ways of garnering crypto and adding digital assets to their portfolios. The latest bank to join this list is Valliance, which has chosen Bakkt as the official institutional platform that will grant its clients access to crypto.
Bakkt and Valliance Are Working Together
In a statement, Sheela Zemlin – chief revenue officer of Bakkt – said:
We’re excited to partner with Valliance Bank and to bring crypto experiences fit for the needs of their clients. Crypto has reached the masses, but many are still on the sidelines and unsure of how to get started and looking for a convenient entry point from a relationship they already trust.
Bakkt experienced a slow start when it was first introduced nearly three years ago. While it was initially announced in 2018, the platform was slow to come about, and eventually emerged for traders to enjoy in late 2019. However, things took an ugly turn almost instantly when its debut was rocked by low trading numbers that eventually caused bitcoin to lose more than $1,000 off its price in mere minutes.
Overall, Bakkt has come quite far since then, though it’s been an arduous journey for what was – when it first arrived – arguably the first institutional trading platform centered around crypto.
Valliance Bank is a leading monetary institution that works to tailor financial solutions for its customers. The company is now permitting its customers to trade both bitcoin and Ethereum – the two largest and most well-known cryptocurrencies in the world – through Bakkt via its mobile application.
Giving Customers More Opportunities
Alicia Wade – president and COO of Valliance Bank – said in an interview:
Our core banking platform provider recommended Bakkt. By partnering with Bakkt, we’re opening the door to a new, dynamic opportunity to provide modern and compliant financial solutions to our clients who have a growing interest in cryptocurrency. More and more of our clients each week are signaling they’re ready to get started with crypto. We’re excited to partner with Bakkt as we innovate and broaden our offering beyond the traditional deposit accounts. Bakkt crypto connect is an easy-to-get-started solution which plugs right into our existing mobile banking app, allowing our clients to buy, sell, and hold crypto in one seamless experience.
Valliance Bank is small when compared with institutions like Bank of America or Wells Fargo. Right now, it only has about five branches throughout Texas and Oklahoma, but the company is working to help build out the crypto space and cement bitcoin’s growing agenda. Thus far, the company manages approximately $580 million in customer assets.
