Noel Quinn, CEO of HSBC, said: Reuters It has no plans to launch a cryptocurrency trading desk or offer cryptocurrency as an investment to clients because it is highly volatile and lacks transparency.

Europe’s largest bank’s stance on cryptocurrency comes as the world’s largest and most popular bitcoin tumbled nearly 50% from its year highs, after China cracked down on currency mining, and after prominent defender Elon Musk” supported the currency.

HSBC’s position also contrasts with rival banks such as Goldman Sachs, which previously told us at BTC that it had restarted its cryptocurrency trading desk.

Quinn stated:

Given the volatility, we don’t view Bitcoin as an asset class, if our clients want to be there, of course they are, but we don’t promote it as an asset class within our wealth management business.

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He added:

For similar reasons we are not rushing towards digital stablecoins.

Referring to digital currencies that seek to avoid the volatility associated with typical cryptocurrencies by pegging their value to assets such as the US dollar.

Bitcoin is currently trading at $37,764, down nearly 50% from a year high of $64,895 on April 14.

Pressure on the currency intensified after billionaire CEO and cryptocurrency supporter Musk reversed his stance on Tesla’s acceptance of bitcoin as a payment method.

Differing positions:

China said last Tuesday that it had banned financial institutions and payment companies from providing services related to cryptocurrency transactions.

Last April, news reports surfaced that HSBC had prevented customers of its online stock trading platform from buying shares in the pro-Bitcoin MicroStrategy, explaining in a message to customers that it would not facilitate the purchase or exchange of crypto-related products.

Quinn said his skeptical stance on cryptocurrencies stemmed in part from the difficulty in assessing the transparency of who owns them, as well as fiat convertibility problems.

He added:

I see bitcoin as an asset class rather than a means of payments, with very difficult questions about how it is valued on clients’ balance sheets because it is so volatile.

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Then there are stablecoins that have some backup support behind them to address stored value concerns, but that depends on who the sponsoring organization is as well as the reserve structure and accessibility.

The growing popularity of cryptocurrencies has posed a problem for major banks in recent years, as they try to balance satisfying clients’ interests with their own regulatory obligations to understand the source of their clients’ wealth.

HSBC’s stance against offering cryptocurrency as an asset class sets it apart against European competitors such as UBS, which is exploring ways to present it as an investment product according to media reports earlier this month.

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