Although not all bank representatives are happy with the decision, their CEO thinks they need this move to meet a growing demand.
Avanza Bank, the largest online broker in Sweden - the bank has more than 600,000 registered users - has announced that it will offer its customers the ability to track Bitcoin and other digital assets using the interface of their system.
Founded in 1999, Avanza Bank is one of Sweden's most reputed financial institutions, with a share in the largest number of operations carried out on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. This week, the institution announced that it will provide its customers with a feature that will allow them to get a complete picture of their wallets, including Bitcoin transactions. According to the press release issued by the bank, Avanza customers will be able to see their values of Bitcoin and Ethereum.
On this decision, Johan Prom, CEO of Avanza, stated:
" More and more customers are investing in cryptones, so it is ideal that through our service can be aware of their movements with cryptoactive."
Despite the fact that the bank is moving into the area of the criptomonedas, one of the representatives of the institution, Claes Hemberg, has issued very sharp statements about Bitcoin in the past. And is that the economist is "worried" by users and believes that Bitcoin is a pyramid scheme. Hemberg has commented that, unlike Avanza, he expects the Riksbank in his country to offer a more serious alternative, because in his opinion, Bitcoin is no different from the OneCoin scam.
However, it seems that the situation has more ramifications than it seems: Hemberg, paradoxically, claims that it does not bother that Avanza chooses to pay attention to Bitcoin, but stresses that he is annoyed because they did not ask about the decision. The finance professional told reporters:
" Avanza is developing products that they think are good, while I tell savers what I think is good. "
In this way, Avanza Bank joins other financial institutions that offer Bitcoin services, such as US firms Fidelity and USAA, Slovenian bank Hranilnica Lon and Norway's largest bank, Skandiabanken; Avanza also offers customers the ability to purchase Bitcoin using a coupon system.