Mutual Bank in New Jersey to Give Customers the Ability to Buy, Sell and Hold Cryptocurrency

Manasquan Bank, a mutual community bank in New Jersey serving residents since 1874, has announced it is partnering with the company Bakkt to give its retail clients the ability to buy, sell and hold cryptocurrency through the bank’s mobile banking application.

A mutual community bank headquartered in Wall Township, New Jersey will give bank customers the ability to buy, sell and hold cryptocurrencies. Manasquan Bank announced this decision on Tuesday in a press release published by Bakkt Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: BKKT). The New Jersey bank offers personal and business banking services and operates fifteen separate branches in Middlesex, Monmouth, and Ocean Counties.

Bakkt’s partnership with Manasquan Bank is part of the company’s early adopter program. The program will begin in the second quarter of 2022 and is still contingent on the “adoption by the bank’s core financial service provider.” James Vaccaro, the chair, president, and chief executive officer of Manasquan Bank explained that the bank is focused on pioneering the future.

“We’re focused on driving growth and introducing new opportunities for our clients to participate in the digital economy,” Vaccaro said in a statement. “Our developing partnership with Bakkt to introduce these new offerings and features comes at an exciting time when consumers continue to seek out crypto assets as an option for the acquisition of a portfolio of cryptocurrencies even if it is in very small increments to start, and without having to leave their existing, trusted banking environment.”

Bakkt has been making a number of moves toward the end of 2021 and recently went public after a SPAC merger in mid-October. Bakkt also partnered with Google the week prior to the public listing. Last month, Bakkt revealed the company was planning to provide ethereum (ETH) services. “This is an incredible opportunity to provide Manasquan Bank clients with an entry point to adopt cryptocurrency as an additional asset option,” Sheela Zemlin, the chief revenue officer at Bakkt remarked about the partnership with Manasquan Bank.

The Bakkt executive added:

It’s clear that cryptocurrency is the center of the Web3 economy, in which consumers can participate in new value creation and exchange with digital assets.

What do you think about Manasquan Bank joining Bakkt’s early adopter program and its plans to allow customers access to cryptocurrencies in 2022? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.