After eyeing ways to enter the digital asset space, Blue Ridge Bankshares Inc. found an opportunity when upgrading its ATMs.

The company announced Feb. 10 that consumers can purchase and redeem bitcoin at its Blue Ridge Bank NA ATM locations. The news caused the Charlottesville, Va.-based company's stock price to soar and prompted the New York Stock Exchange to halt trading for five minutes. The bank is the first U.S. commercial bank to provide access to bitcoin at its branch locations, according to the company's press release, and it plans to keep looking for opportunities in cryptocurrency.

"It's always a little unnerving to be the first in the country to do something, particularly if you think about a bank of our size," said Brian Plum, CEO of the $1.50 billion bank, in an interview. "But we saw an opportunity."

The day of the Bitcoin ATM announcement, Blue Ridge's stock closed at $21.24, up 7.16%.

BluePoint ATM Solutions pitched Blue Ridge on adding the bitcoin capability. "That was really the impetus," Plum said. "We explored it, we did all of the due diligence, the compliance, the regulatory review, all of those things that you obviously have to do ... We made sure that we understood the risk really well, given the reputation of crypto and who we all think uses crypto."

The ATMs use software from LibertyX, a provider of bitcoin ATMs, cashiers and kiosks. To buy or redeem bitcoin in the ATMs, a consumer uses their debit card and must have a LibertyX account. Standard debit card transaction limits apply, which vary by bank, Plum said. The feature is now live at all 19 of Blue Ridge Bank's ATMs after testing during the week ended Feb. 5. Customers do not need a Blue Ridge Bank account to use the ATM, but Plum said he thinks the feature could bring new business.

"We see, over time in the coming months and years, just more and more activity starting to unfold with your top-tier cryptocurrency, such as bitcoin," he said. "It's a way for us to serve customers today and tomorrow through this one particular channel."

One day after Blue Ridge's announcement, Bank of New York Mellon Corp. announced that it formed a digital assets unit to hold, transfer and issue cryptocurrencies for its asset manager clients. "It's not just the Silvergate Capital Corp.'s of the world. I mean, you're starting to get some really traditional, conservative names that are associating themselves with it," Plum said. "There is an element out there of safety in numbers."

Blue Ridge plans to become more involved in the cryptocurrency ecosystem as digital assets become more mainstream, Plum said. "We are absolutely exploring all the opportunities, and we have some conversations ongoing," he said. "It's a favorable environment and there's been favorable regulatory guidance ... There does not appear to be anything to indicate a slowdown in the momentum involved with cryptocurrency."