Big Canadian bank rumored to offer cryptocurrency accounts, Bitcoin trading

The Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) is reportedly developing a cryptocurrency platform, The Logic reports.

If launched, the bank‘s customers will be able to trade in cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Ethereum.

The bank, one of the country’s largest, is also looking to let customers open cryptocurrency accounts.

According to The Block, one of the bank‘s patent applications says the following:

“To individual users, managing cryptographic keys and transacting with different cryptographic assets can be a challenge. In some situations, cryptographic asset transactions may take time to be confirmed, and/or may not be compatible or supported by merchant systems or point-of-sale devices.”

But, Jean Francois Thibault, an RBC spokesperson told the Logic that the bank “like many other organizations, files patent applications to ensure proprietary ideas and concepts are protected.” Thibault declined to comment further.

Although little is known at this stage, this is not the first time that a bank has dipped its toes into the blockchain space.

In September 2017, Reuters reported that the bank was experimenting with blockchain in a bid to facilitate payments between its US and Canadian banks.

More recently, RBC and several other Canadian banks started using blockchain technology to allow customers to digitally prove their identity.

Blockchain‘s potential to maximize efficiency and significantly reduce costs has been lauded for some time, so it’s hardly surprising that banks are trying to jump on the blockchain bandwagon.

It’s just ironic that Satoshi Nakamoto originally invented the technology to circumvent the mainstream financial system — but here we are, the suits always take over.