Bank of America (BoA), one of the world's largest financial institutions, admitted that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies threaten its business model, this statement was presented in the BoA annual report, writes the Financial Times.
The February 22 counteraction was sent to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), as well as number of economic, geopolitical and operational risks lists, which may threaten BoA in the new fiscal year. For the first time ever this document lists cryptocurrencies models and analysis.
Earlier, BoA began to reject payments for crypto currency, carried out by its customers using credit cards, and as the report says, these and other similar measures can lead to an outflow of customers.
"Clients can make a choice in favor of doing business with other market participants offering products in areas that we consider being speculative, for example, in the field of cryptocurrency," the document says.
Bank of America is the second largest bank in the US in terms of assets, and its management believes that widespread adoption of cryptocurrency and other innovations in the field of financial technologies may require it to "significant expenses" to upgrade existing services and maintain competitiveness in the fight against blockchain ICO boom and crypto start-ups.
In addition, BoA fears that cryptocurrencies and other new technologies may limit its ability to operate under anti-money laundering legislation.
It is noteworthy that, despite the obvious recognition of the danger that Bitcoin bears to the traditional financial system, Bank of America is one of the most active representatives of this sector in terms of learning new technologies. It accounts for a significant number of patent applications in the field of blockade technology, including automatic exchange of digital currencies.
A major conclusion should be the fact that the biggest USA bank institutions manifest a rise of interests, trying to influence or even control the entire crypto system.