Access to bitcoin was once a case where “no one wants to be first, but everyone wants to be second”.
Now, New York Digital Investment Group, or NYDIG, won’t stop until it’s able to put bitcoin within reach of every American.
Patrick Sells, Head of Bank Solutions at NYDIG, explained during the most recent episode of The Scoop how the firm has been amping up its partnerships in order to roll out their bitcoin products now that there is interest being expressed from regional banks.
To that end, NYDIG has teamed up with banking service providers, including NCR, Alkami, Fiserv, Allied Payment, Q2, First Foundation, and others.
“I think if we kind of pause today and you fast forward to 12 months, you would see over a thousand institutions rolling out NYDIG products," he said, referring to the results these partnerships will yield. "I think we'll see that number grow as we move forward through the next 12 months.”
Much of what NYDIG has offered to banks is centered around bitcoin purchases, but the ambitions appear to be broader.
Sells discussed NYDIG’s ability to offer credit card solutions and retail lending. Sells said they could offer a service that converts unused hotel points into bitcoin “allowing people to have points and convert those to Bitcoin, that's in some ways the lowest friction path possible from an entry point standpoint or from allowing gift cards to be converted into Bitcoin."
NYDIG is also working on providing a way to make it easier for clients to leverage their bitcoin holdings to get approved for loans, according to Sells. Today, most lenders don't consider bitcoin as collateral or a traditional asset. 
As Sells put it: "Any type of fiat financing for a home, a car, a line of credit, whatever, credit underwriting doesn't take into account your bitcoin, right?" 

Episode 43 of Season 3 of The Scoop was recorded remotely with The Block’s Frank Chaparro and Patrick Sells, Head of Bank Solutions at NYDIG.
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