Bank of America CEO says bank not looking to offer crypto

Bank of America doesn’t have plans to dive into offering crypto to its customers, according to the bank’s Chief Executive Officer Brian Moynihan.

In an interview with Yahoo Finance at the World Economic Forum (WEF), the BofA CEO responded with a “No” when asked if the bank had any such plans.

According to him, the need to remain within the regulatory bracket that the bank operates in means they cannot engage in crypto.

“The reality is that we can’t do it. By regulations, we’re not really allowed to engage,” he said.

However, he notes that BofA can engage in crypto trading even as its main goal is to look at how to advance the benefits of blockchain technology.

“So, in the trading side we could do it. Our research team writes about it,” he noted. However, they are not looking to offer cryptocurrency accounts for customers.

BofA not missing on crypto opportunity

Moynihan also said that Bank of America does not really feel like they are missing anything so far by not offering crypto to its customers. In his view, the bank already has most of its customers, about 54 million, moving money digitally.

Also, the issues around which cryptocurrencies have pitched a selling point, like faster cross border payments, the banking industry is already working towards ensuring that.

Bank of America’s stance contrasts that of other major Wall Street banks, including JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and BNY Mellon that have all taken a dive into the crypto sector albeit in different ways. 

Another major player to look the crypto way is Fidelity Investments, which recently announced the addition of Bitcoin to its customers’ 401k accounts.