Dutch Bank ABN AMRO Abandons Wallie Custodial Bitcoin Wallet Citing Risk Concerns

Dutch bank ABN AMRO abandoned its plans to launch a custodial bitcoin (BTC) wallet dubbed “Wallie” because of risk concerns, according to a report published on May 20 by tech news outlet The Next Web.

Per the report, the bank’s senior press officer, Jarco de Swart, said in an email to the outlet that the bank decided not to continue its plans after it “concluded that cryptocurrencies because of their unregulated nature are at the moment too risky assets for our clients to invest in.”

The rumors concerning alleged tests of the wallet first started spreading in January. Still, according to The Next Web, the bank had actually just asked 500 of its customers if it should develop the wallet and if so, how. Owler estimates the bank’s annual revenue to be $10.3 billion, and reports that the firm has 18,720 employees.

As Cointelegraph reported in November last year, major oil companies BP, Shell and Equinor have united with large banks — including ABN AMRO — and trading houses to launch a blockchain-driven platform, Vakt, for energy commodity trading.

Last week, Alexandre Kech, CEO of Onchain Custodian, predicted that collaboration between crypto and traditional custodians will grow.