BNY Mellon said it is expanding its crypto custody business into Abu Dhabi Global Market, with an initial focus on institutional custody for BTC and ETH. The move comes through a partnership with Finstreet and ADI Foundation, and the companies said the offering is expected to broaden later to stablecoins, tokenized real-world assets, and other regulated digital instruments.
BNY said it oversees more than $59.4 trillion in assets. It also described itself as the first U.S. global systemically important bank, or G-SIB, to offer crypto custody in the Middle East. Before launching the service, the bank had already obtained an ADGM Category 4 license, giving it a regulatory foothold in the Abu Dhabi market.
Partnership splits custody access, market plumbing, and blockchain infrastructure
Under the arrangement, Finstreet will connect the custody layer to trading, settlement, and other capital-markets workflows. ADI Foundation will provide the underlying blockchain infrastructure through ADI Chain. BNY, for its part, is adding asset-servicing and risk-management capabilities while extending experience from its digital asset custody platform, which has been operating in the United States since 2022.
The companies framed the launch as a starting point rather than a fixed product set. Their stated roadmap includes stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets, placing the Abu Dhabi rollout inside a broader effort to bring regulated digital asset services closer to established institutional market infrastructure.