In a new partnership, regional bank and financial services company First Foundation announced a strategic investment in institutional bitcoin solutions provider NYDIG with the goal of providing its clients access to BTC.
The specific terms of the partnership were not disclosed.
“The two companies … announced a strategic partnership that will allow First Foundation and NYDIG to collaborate on connecting the infrastructure and technologies necessary to provide First Foundation clients with efficient and secure access to Bitcoin-related financial products and services within the traditional banking network,” per the press release.
Scott F. Kavanaugh, CEO of First Foundation, highlighted that the company believes “digital assets are an important part of the future landscape of financial services,” according to the release. Kavanaugh further added that the “announcement marks an important step towards establishing ourselves as one of the first Bitcoin-friendly regional banks in the country.”
Bitcoin integration with First Foundation’s existing banking environment will be performed by the company’s core processing provider Fiserv, per the release. Fiserv is set to give First Foundation clients a seamless experience “by integrating NYDIG into the bank’s core platform and digital banking offering, enabling customers to buy, sell and hold bitcoin.”
First Foundation is a publicly-traded entity with some $7 billion in bank assets, $4.9 billion in assets under management and 20 branch offices across four states.