Bank of America CEO: We Have Hundreds of Blockchain Patents — But Regulation Won’t Allow Us to Engage in Crypto

The CEO of Bank of America says that his bank has hundreds of blockchain patents but regulations will not allow it to engage in crypto. “The reality is that we can’t do it by regulation,” he said.

Bank of America’s CEO on Crypto

Bank of America (BOA) CEO Brian Moynihan talked about cryptocurrency in an interview with Yahoo Finance Live at the recent World Economic Forum event in Davos, published Saturday.

He was asked about his bank’s plans for cryptocurrencies. “The reality is that we run a payments business across our platform. It’s trillions of dollars a day, and almost all of it is digital,” the executive replied, adding:

If you think about the blockchain, we have hundreds of patents on blockchain as a process and as a tool and as a technology.

However, with regard to cryptocurrency, he revealed: “We’re not engaging in accounts for people in cryptocurrency … we’re not allowed to, frankly.”

The Bank of America chief explained: “Because we’re regulated and they [regulators] have said you can’t. They’ve said, ‘you have to ask us before you do it and, by the way, don’t ask’ — was basically the tone.” He emphasized:

The reality is that we can’t do it by regulation. We’re not really allowed to engage.

However, Moynihan clarified: “On the trading side, we could do it. Our research team writes on it.”

Bank of America’s research team has been actively publishing reports on cryptocurrencies. The bank formally established a cryptocurrency research team in July last year. In October, the research team debuted a lengthy report stating that digital assets are “too large to ignore.” The bank also sees a massive opportunity in the metaverse for the entire crypto ecosystem.

The Bank of America CEO was also asked if he feels like he is missing out on the next big thing. “No,” Moynihan simply replied.

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