Big Canadian bank quashes cryptocurrency exchange rumors

The Royal Bank of Canada has quashed rumors that it’s creating a cryptocurrency exchange or platform

Last week, a local Canadian news outlet — The Logic — reported that The Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) was exploring a cryptocurrency trading platform that would let clients buy and sell digital coins, including Bitcoin and Ethereum.

However, in an email to CoinDesk, Ed Jones, a spokesperson for the bank, has denied that this is the case. A number of outlets, including Hard Fork, reported on the rumors.

“While RBC does not comment on ongoing proprietary research and development, we can confirm that these patent filings are not in support of work towards a cryptocurrency exchange for clients,” the spokesperson told CoinDesk.

“RBC has no near-term plans to launch a cryptocurrency exchange for clients,” they added.

The speculation that the bank was working on a cryptocurrency platform stemmed from a number of patents it filed recently.

In the Logic’s initial report, an RBC spokesperson said the bank “like many other organizations, files patent applications to ensure proprietary ideas and concepts are protected.”

Jones further added that the RBC filed the applications “as part of the innovation and discovery process.”

I’m not going to further add to speculation and pick apart the latest comments from the bank. However, one thing we can deduce from this, is that the RBC is certainly aware of cryptocurrency, blockchain, and cryptographic keys.

It’s impossible to say if these patents will ever materialize into a real product offering. We’ll just have to wait and see.