BNY Mellon expands crypto custody to Abu Dhabi

BNY Mellon will offer institutional crypto custody services in the Abu Dhabi Global Market through a partnership with local firms Finstreet and ADI Foundation, initially supporting bitcoin and ether for Finstreet’s clients. The partners announced the arrangement in a statement released Thursday.

Custody operations will be based in the Abu Dhabi Global Market and are designed to meet institutional controls and regulatory requirements. The partners will start with bitcoin and ether and plan to assess ADI Foundation’s blockchain rails for potential integration. They also plan to expand supported assets to include stablecoins, tokenized real-world assets and other regulated digital instruments.

Under the agreement, Finstreet will be the initial client-facing provider using BNY Mellon’s custody capability, while ADI Foundation’s technical infrastructure will be evaluated for future connection. The statement did not provide a timetable for when additional asset types or ADI Foundation’s rails would become available.

BNY Mellon launched a tokenized deposit service for institutional clients in January and last month participated in a tokenized real-world asset product tied to a high-yield bond strategy managed by BNY Investments. The bank reported $59.4 trillion in assets under custody or administration and $2.1 trillion in assets under management as of March 31, 2026.

Hani Kablawi, executive vice chair at BNY Mellon, described the UAE as entering a ‘new phase of financial development' and said the bank is prepared for ‘building the financial infrastructure for the future and unlocking new capabilities in the region and beyond.'