Banca Generali announced that in a bid to support the growth and development of Conio as well as the distribution of its digital products to its customers, they will acquire a $14 million minority stake in the crypto firm.
Banca Generali, one of the biggest private banks in Italy has announced plans to introduce crypto services to its customers next year. In an official press release, the Italian bank revealed that it has partnered with Conio, also an Italian crypto wallet provider, to offer its services to its customers.
Banca Generali in the press release highlighted the significant growth of digital currencies across the country and the globe as demand for crypto wallets in the country had seen an unprecedented rise. The bank therefore is looking to expand its services with the partnership and capture the cryptocurrency market in the country.
Conio is a fintech company that provides traditional financial institutions in Italy with crypto-related solutions for digital wallets as well as asset management. The company was founded in 2015 and reports suggest that it was the first Bitcoin wallet to operate in Italy. The crypto firm has over the years built a relationship with traditional financial institutions and has partnered with some major banking firms over the years such as Nexi Open Banking and Hype.
The CEO of Conio, Christian Miccoli in a statement after the partnership commended Banca Generali for deciding to include them in their next big step. He expressed the need for traditional financial institutions to collaborate with the new and upcoming firms as it would be an important element in taking the whole financial system to a new era.
Miccoli added that, after over ten years of development, crypto adoption seems to be on the rise as traditional financial institutions are beginning to tap into the “wide range of services” that cryptocurrencies have to offer.
Banca Generali also announced in the press release that in a bid to support the growth and development of Conio as well as the distribution of its digital products to its customers, they will acquire a $14 million minority stake in the crypto firm. A spokesperson for the company however told reporters that the bank is not planning on launching a cryptocurrency exchange anytime soon and will only seek crypto services from their new partner Conio.
Gian Maria Mossa General Manager and CEO of Banca Generali after the announcement of the partnership said that the bank believes that the future structure of the financial scene will be highly influenced by the blockchain technology which powers the new revolutionary commodities in the world of finance, cryptocurrencies. She added that Banca Generali’s partnership with Conio means the bank is ready to tap into the crypto scene and expand their list of services they offer to their customers with an innovation-oriented partner. “We can thus continue to develop our open-banking platform expanding our offering with industry-leading innovative solutions,” Mossa stated.
Banca Generali is owned by the Generali Group, one of the top ten insurers of big names in financial institutional shareholders. The bank is regarded as the best private bank in Italy and mostly attend to high net worth individuals as clients.
