As we wait for Steven Mnuchin, the US Treasury Secretary, to announce soon restrictive measures on cryptocurrencies, the State of Wyoming is moving in the opposite direction. From what has been announced, they will soon acquire the first bank in US territory for cryptocurrencies, thanks to specially formulated special purpose institutional repository legislation.
The new bank, Avanti Bank and Trust, is expected to open its doors in a year, providing digital asset protection services. It will primarily target institutional investors, pension funds and hedge funds. By law, to obtain authorization from the authorities, it will be required to comply fully with all applicable federal regulations to combat money laundering.
What do we mean by guardianship? A Custodian is essentially nothing but the service of an institution or organization to safeguard your assets, such as your euros or your shares, on your behalf.
The keys, for example in our home, serve to protect our precious belongings from robbers. As for our bank account, we entrust the keys to the bank. We ask them first and then we go home. Although we own it, we do not control the keys. If for whatever reason they want from the bank, they don't give it to us. The reason may be exceptional economic conditions. The government may consider us replaceable or we owe it to them.
We hold the keys to Bitcoin ourselves. Neither does anyone control where and when we spend it. It neither records us nor restricts where we will ship them. We are the absolute rulers. But this has a downside. If we lose them, there is no one to lend us, as in the case of the bank. The cryptocurrencies are "bare" digital assets. If you steal or lose the code that your crypto represents, it's like losing your cash. They're like bank notes, anonymous.
This is not the first attempt to guard the cryptocurrencies. This service is already being offered by Bakkt, a company set up by giants such as Intercontinental Exchange, which also manages the New York Stock Exchange and Microsoft. Fidelity has also recently entered the field, with interest from German banks in other countries as well.
The key property of Bitcoin is that it operates outside the banking or brokerage system. This particularity remains. There has been no retreat to this fundamental principle. Only a voluntary person can choose the solution of custody. The phrase not your keys, not your Bitcoin, is accurate, but not everyone is interested in it. They are not that familiar or lack the ability or interest in remembering a password other than the one referring to their birthday.
It's not the best, it's not in line with Bitcoin's philosophy, but to get to the stage of widespread adoption, and therefore to the new bull era, it is necessary to go through this stage. In some time, most, if not all, will have access to cryptocurrencies. And this is a game changer. Don't underestimate it. There are many who have not bought because they are confused by the process or ignore the way (this is something we do in seminars among others).
Interestingly, all the financial institutions that offer custodian services will compete with each other. Who will provide better services, friendlier platform, more advantages. And all this how? They will bombard us with ads to attract customers. And what will the ads have in common? They will glorify Bitcoin and its benefits.