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Cowen Launches Digital Asset Division
Summary: Cowen Inc. (COWN) announced the launch of Cowen Digital, a dedicated cryptocurrency and digital asset division on Wednesday. The major American independent investment bank, will offer a full-service trade execution and custody for 16 cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana. “Through Cowen Digital, our clients now have access to the crypto and digital asset markets ...
Cowen Inc. (COWN) announced the launch of Cowen Digital, a dedicated cryptocurrency and digital asset division on Wednesday.
The major American independent investment bank, will offer a full-service trade execution and custody for 16 cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana.
“Through Cowen Digital, our clients now have access to the crypto and digital asset markets with our institutional quality and fully integrated end-to-end execution and custody capabilities,” said Jeffrey M. Solomon, Cowen Chair and Chief Executive Officer. “Cowen is committed to outperforming for its clients by staying at the forefront of innovation.”
The 103-year-old bank initially announced plans to move into the crypto space in May 2021, after inking a partnership with Standard Custody and Trust Company. In addition, Cowen invested $25 million in Standard’s parent company Polysign. Fast forward to today, those partnerships turned out to be quite fruitful.
According to the announcement, over the last 15 months Cowen has been developing the infrastructure and systems necessary to launch Cowen Digital.
“The new division brings proven expertise in traditional finance to support and assist institutional clients as they plan and execute their digital asset investment strategies, underpinned by Cowen’s integrated institutional-grade infrastructure,” the announcement stated.
Cowen is major investment bank in the U.S., managing about $16 billion in assets as of late last year. Cowen prides themselves on their willingness to accept new technologies and their commitment to stay at the forefront of innovation.
“Through Cowen Digital, our clients now have access to the crypto and digital asset markets with our institutional quality and fully integrated end-to-end execution and custody capabilities,” said the company’s CEO, Jeffrey M. Solomon.
The future functionalities of Cowen Digital will include derivatives and futures, financing solutions as well as institutional DeFi and NFT access, the announcement noted.
This announcement comes shortly after other banking heavyweights have entered the crypto space. Goldman Sachs recently finalized the first-ever over-the-counter (OTC) crypto options partnership with Galaxy Digital. Before that, it was JPMorgan Chase that launched their virtual lounge in the metaverse in February.
There is no doubt that the crypto world, digital assets and the metaverse are heating up to banks from around the world.
Author: Tyler Irvin
