HSBC CEO says no plans for cryptocurrency trading desk as digital coins are volatile and lack transparency
- Stance marks HSBC out against some rival banks, such as Goldman Sachs, which has restarted a virtual-money trading desk
- Bitcoin is down nearly 50 per cent in just 40 days from its year high of US$64,895 on April 14
HSBC has no plans to launch a cryptocurrency trading desk or offer the digital coins as an investment to customers, because they are too volatile and lack transparency, its chief executive Noel Quinn told Reuters.
Europe’s largest bank’s stance on cryptocurrencies comes as the world’s biggest and best-known, bitcoin, has tumbled nearly 50 per cent from the year’s high, after China cracked down on mining the currency and prominent advocate Elon Musk tempered his support.
It marks it out against rivals such as Goldman Sachs, which Reuters in March reported had restarted its cryptocurrency trading desk, and UBS which other media said was exploring ways to offer the currencies as an investment product.
“Given the volatility, we are not into bitcoin as an asset class. If our clients want to be there, then of course they are, but we are not promoting it as an asset class within our wealth management business,” Quinn said.
“For similar reasons we’re not rushing into stablecoins,” he said, referring to digital currencies such as Tether that seek to avoid the volatility typically associated with cryptocurrencies by pegging their value to assets such as the US dollar.