“The financial industry is transforming to a digital economy, and we see digital assets as one of the most significant forces impacting our industry over the next five years,” says Ron O’Hanley, chairman and chief executive officer of State Street Corporation. “Digital assets are quickly becoming integrated into the existing framework of financial services, and it is critical we have the tools in place to provide our clients with solutions for both their traditional investment needs as well as their increased digital needs.”

The new division will build on State Street’s current digital capabilities and will expand to include crypto, central bank digital currency, blockchain, and tokenization.

The bank intends to evolve its GlobalLink technology platform to support crypto assets and other emerging digital instruments. It has appointed Nadine Chakar, three-decade industry veteran and executive vice president, to lead the business, dubbed State Sreet Digital.

In April of this year, State Street was appointed as the administrator of a planned bitcoin backed exchange traded note (ETN) initiated by Iconic Funds BTC in Germany. Separately in March, State Street was annointed as the fund administrator and transfer agent of the VanEck Bitcoin Trust, a new bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) that is currently pending approval by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

“We have been developing a number of digital capabilities and other solutions as well as partnering and investing in the infrastructure that forms the foundation of State Street Digital,” said Chakar. “State Street has a major role to play in the evolution of digital market infrastructure and this new division will help us bring our expertise and resources to the conversation. As digital currencies and tokenization not only gain momentum, but transform financial infrastructure and operating models, we can help our clients bridge the gap between the industry of today and the one of tomorrow.”