CEO Noel Quinn of the world’s largest bank HSBC said that no crypto services would be provided. The executive emphasized that HSBC is less supportive of cryptocurrencies than other banks, saying “I do worry about the sustainability of the valuations of crypto.”
HSBC Will Not Get Into Crypto, CEO Says
The chief executive of HSBC, Noel Quinn, talked about his bank’s cryptocurrency stance in an interview with CNBC-TV18 last week. He confirmed:
As a bank, we’re not getting into the crypto world, crypto trading, crypto exchanges.
Emphasizing that cryptocurrencies are too volatile, the HSBC chief said: “I do worry about the sustainability of the valuations of crypto and I have done for a while. I’m not going to predict where it will go in the future.”
Quinn proceeded to explain why HSBC is more negative on crypto than other banks. He stated:
As a product, I questioned its suitability for many of the consumers in the marketplace today. So that’s why HSBC is more negative on crypto than other banks.
“I view bitcoin as more of an asset class than a payments vehicle, with very difficult questions about how to value it on the balance sheet of clients because it is so volatile,” Quinn told Reuters in May of last year.
We are not interested in bitcoin as an asset class, he continued, given its volatility. As a class of assets, we are not promoting it in our wealth management company.
Quinn stated at the time that “we’re not rushing into stablecoins” for similar reasons. According to him, stablecoins do have some reserve backing to address the issues with stored value, but it depends on the sponsoring organization as well as the reserve’s structure and accessibility.
HSBC Canada informed customers that its cryptocurrency policy had changed in April of last year and announced that it would no longer facilitate the purchase or exchange of goods related to virtual currencies. For instance, customers were unable to purchase Microstrategy (MSTR-US) shares through HSBC Invest Direct.
