BNP Paribas Fortis Denies Bank Will Accept Bitcoin as Stored Asset

BNP Paribas Fortis Denies Plans that BNP Paribas will Accept Bitcoin as a Stored Asset

A spokesperson for Fortis, the Belgian subsidiary of BNP Paribas, told CoinDesk the bank has no plans to include bitcoin as a storage option for its users.

“I’m sorry, I’m afraid I’ll disappoint you. The bank is not currently carrying out any projects related to Bitcoin.

Previously, CoinDesk received an email from a website subscriber who said he received an email from a market analyst at BNP Paribas asking the recipient to submit their email address on the Launchrock website, where the interface clearly stated "Now you can store Bitcoin in the bank."

In response, the spokesperson explained that this was a misunderstanding of BNP Paribas' "routine testing":

"Bitcoin is often used as a case study as part of the 'lean startup' test. So this website is just a test we did to see what the potential benefits of keeping bitcoin in the bank are."

Observing the blockchain

Although the spokesperson was reluctant to disclose specific details, he (she) told CoinDesk that the bank is indeed observing blockchain technology and thinking about how to use it to improve the bank’s efficiency and reduce business costs.

In July, BNP Paribas Securities Services Chief Digital Officer Philippe Denis said that the bank’s 40 employees had held brainstorming sessions around blockchain technology. IB Times also reported that BNP Paribas is considering Bitcoin as one of the bank’s currency funds.

CoinDesk reached out to BNP Paribas for comment, but as of press time, CoinDesk had not received a response from BNP Paribas.