French banking giant Societe Generale has introduced new services for its institutional clients as they try to cater to a growing demand for bitcoin exposure among investors.
The new offerings will allow asset manager customers of the bank to offer bitcoin and cryptocurrency funds “in a simple and adapted manner, within the European regulatory framework,” Societe Generale said in a statement.
“More and more investors want to integrate crypto currencies in their portfolios,” per the statement. “Asset management companies are therefore looking to build new ranges of solutions invested mainly in digital assets.”
The bank said that the services have already been adopted by independent asset manager Arquant Capital SAS to launch a bitcoin fund under French law.
“This solution provides Arquant Capital with an innovative structuring that allows us to scale our offering and focus on creating value for our clients,” said Eron Angjele, CEO of Arquant Capital.
The Bitcoin bear market hasn’t slowed down institutional interest in the digital currency. On Tuesday, news surfaced that the world’s second largest stock exchange, Nasdaq, was preparing to launch bitcoin and cryptocurrency custody services for institutions. On the same day, Bitcoin bull firm MicroStrategy announced it had purchased more BTC, adding up to a stack that now totals 130,000 bitcoin accumulated.