NYDIG partners with banking platform Q2 to enable bitcoin trading for 18 million users

• The partnership, announced Thursday, aims to serve the growing number of Americans who own cryptocurrency.
• NYDIG is the bitcoin subsidiary of Stone Ridge, a $10 billion alternative asset manager.
• Digital banking platform Q2 powers nearly 30% of the top 100 banks in the US.

Cryptocurrency custody firm NYDIG has partnered with digital banking platform Q2 to enable over 18 million of the bank's US account holders to buy, sell, and hold bitcoin.

Q2, founded in 2004, powers nearly 30% of the top 100 banks in the US, according to the statement. It also enables one in 10 digital banking customers to transact via the cloud.

The partnership, announced Thursday, aims to serve the growing number of Americans who own cryptocurrency, Jonathan Price, EVP at Q2, said.

He cited a December 2020 study by Cornerstone Advisors, which found that 15% of US consumers own cryptocurrencies. The majority of those, the study revealed, would prefer to use their banks to invest if given the choice.

The collaboration will be powered by NYDIG's regulated bitcoin platform, the statement said. The company, founded in 2017, is the bitcoin subsidiary of Stone Ridge, a $10 billion alternative asset manager.

In May, NYDIG teamed up with fintech company Fidelity National Information Services to enable banks to offer cryptocurrencies.

Banks have been moving to offer bitcoin services because they are seeing customers sending money to crypto exchanges such as Coinbase, according to Yan Zhao, president of NYDIG.