{"id":353925,"date":"2018-10-15T18:00:38","date_gmt":"2018-10-15T18:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uniquehot.com\/?p=353925"},"modified":"2019-03-11T20:53:51","modified_gmt":"2019-03-11T20:53:51","slug":"barclays-crypto-trading-desk-put-on-ice-as-competition-heats-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uniquehot.com\/news\/barclays-crypto-trading-desk-put-on-ice-as-competition-heats-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Barclays\u2019 Crypto Trading Desk Put \u2018on Ice\u2019 as Competition Heats Up"},"content":{"rendered":"
Barclays has reportedly put plans for a cryptocurrency trading platform on pause, according to sources familiar with the matter.<\/span><\/p>\n U.K.-based multinational bank and financial services company Barclays is said to have frozen a project that would see the firm launching a cryptocurrency trading desk, two sources “familiar with the situation”\u00a0claimed<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n The “digital assets project” was being led by<\/span><\/a> Barclays former global head of commodities Chris Tyrer, alongside head of forex and emerging markets macro strategy, Marvin Barth, technology officer Lee Braine, and digital assets consultant Matthieu Jobbe Duval. The decision to axe the project reportedly prompted Tyrer to exit his post leading the project in September.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The quartet had been researching cryptocurrencies viability as an asset Barclays\u2019 customers might be interested in, and to better understand what operational infrastructure would be required to support the effort. <\/span><\/p>\n However, it appears that the research either discovered a number of challenges Barclays wasn\u2019t prepared to face, or found a distinct lack of interest from customers willing to explore the emerging asset class as an investment vehicle.<\/span><\/p>\n No specific reason was given for the decision, only that the project was put “on ice.” In recent weeks, as cryptocurrencies continue to experience declining prices, a general lack of interest from institutional investors has caused other cryptocurrency products to be folded<\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n However, past comments from Barclays chief executive officer Jes Staley could shed some light as to why Barclays got cold feet with a crypto trading desk. Staley worried that cryptocurrencies could be “used for activities that the bank wants to have no part of.”<\/span><\/p>\nBarclays Puts Crypto Trading Project on Hold<\/span><\/h2>\n