Bank of America reportedly establishes crypto research team

Published at: July 8, 2021

A new team at the second-largest bank in the United States will reportedly be devoted entirely to researching cryptocurrencies.

According to a Thursday Bloomberg report, Alkesh Shah from Bank of America’s data and innovation strategy group will be leading a team looking into digital assets. He along with Mamta Jain and Andrew Moss of Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s digital innovation group will be reporting to Michael Maras, who reportedly oversees global currencies and commodities research.

“Cryptocurrencies and digital assets constitute one of the fastest growing emerging technology ecosystems,” said Candace Browning, Bank of America’s head of global research. “We are uniquely positioned to provide thought leadership due to our strong industry research analysis, market-leading global payments platform and our blockchain expertise.”

Some Bank of America analysts have criticized cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) for their volatility. When CEO Brian Moynihan testified before the U.S. Senate Banking Committee in May, he said: “We do not lend against cryptocurrencies and do not bank companies whose primary business is cryptocurrency or the facilitation of cryptocurrency trading and investment.”

Related: Bank of America claims it costs just $93 million to move Bitcoin’s price by 1%

However, the bank has taken some small steps seemingly towards adoption in recent months. In May, a report claimed that the bank had joined the Paxos Settlement Service, which would allow customers to use blockchain technology to settle stock trades.

Tags
Related Posts
Munch and The Giving Block partner to connect crypto-ready nonprofits
Munch, an up-and-coming decentralized finance (DeFi) project that lets investors give back a portion of their earnings to charitable causes, has officially partnered with The Giving Block — a move that could provide a significant boost to the rapidly growing crypto donations industry. The new agreement connects The Giving Block’s growing community of crypto-ready nonprofits with the Munch network, which allows users to easily donate to causes they care about. The partnership will also enable new nonprofits to accept Munch donations directly and t create a profile on The Giving Block’s fundraising platform. As Cointelegraph reported in early May, Munch …
Business / June 10, 2021
Celsius Network valued at $3.1B following review (Updated 3/10/2021)
Update 3.10.2021 Alpha Sigma Capital holds Celsius in its portfolio alongside more than a dozen other blockchain-focused projects. Crypto lending platform Celsius Network is worth three times its current market capitalization, underscoring the project's massive growth potential over the next five years, according to new research from Alpha Sigma Capital. Using 2020 financials obtained from Celsius, Alpha Sigma Capital has determined that the crypto company has an implied value of $3.13 billion, which is approximately three times greater than its current market capitalization of $1.1 billion. It appears that “Celsius is currently undervalued," Alpha Sigma Capital said in its analysis, …
Business / March 7, 2021
Research Suggests Transparency is Key for Utility-Based Crypto Projects
Researchers suggest that utility token issuers should provide basic levels of transparency to the public before listing on exchanges. They say that doing so may increase stakeholder confidence and attract new market participants. This is the key to crypto adoption, according to Duke University School of Law’s FinReg Blog on June 25. Disclosure of certain information is key for crypto performance In the blog post, authors Nicholas J. Krapels and Dan Liebau pointed out that the majority of crypto industry experts don’t believe utility token issuers disclose enough information to their stakeholders. This could be the main reason these cryptos …
Business / June 25, 2020
Nearly 75% of professional investors see Bitcoin as bubble: Survey
Bank of America released a new survey that found that the majority of professional investors are not very optimistic about the world’s largest cryptocurrency. Nearly 75% of respondents in the April Bank of America Fund Manager Survey said that they see Bitcoin (BTC) as a “bubble,” CNBC reported. The survey polled 200 respondents with $533 billion in assets under management. Just 16% of respondents said Bitcoin is not a bubble, while 10% were uncertain. More than 30% of survey respondents cited tech as the most crowded trade — i.e., an asset with a history of rapid price appreciation and a …
Bitcoin / April 15, 2021
Did you fall for it? 13 ICO scams that fooled thousands
Using blockchain technology, initial coin offerings have become an alternative means of acquiring funding for business projects using the new, evolving digital financial market for tokens. In contrast to initial public offerings, which are governed by strict legal regulations, ICOs require only a white paper and some interesting features, such as a lack of barrier to entry, a scope for exponential growth, absence of geographical barriers and easy validation. Hence, it may not be surprising that the ICO market experienced extraordinary growth recently. Research shows that from January 2016 to August 2019, ICOs raised nearly $13 billion worldwide. Despite the …
Technology / Dec. 6, 2020