Bank of America The US banking industry will embrace cryptocurrencies for payments if regulators allow it, CEO Brian Moynihan said on Tuesday.
CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin asked the head of the second-largest US bank by assets how the industry’s approach to cryptocurrencies will change given President Donald Trump’s enthusiasm for digital currencies.
“If the rules come in and make it a real thing that you can actually deal with, you will find that the banking system will struggle with the transactional side of it,” Moynihan said in an interview at the World Economic Forum. In Davos, Switzerland.
US banks have largely avoided allowing customers to use cryptocurrencies in retail transactions, although their trading and institutional wealth management arms have participated in bitcoin ETF markets. Leaders in the industry, incl JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has criticized Bitcoin as a currency for criminals and fraudsters.
“If you go down the street here and go in and buy lunch, well, if you can pay for it Visa, MasterCarddebit card, apple “Paying, etc., that would just be another form of payment,” Moynihan explained. “We have hundreds of patents on blockchain already, and we know how to enter this field.”
The veteran Bank of America CEO did not address the idea of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin as an investment or store of value, saying it was “really a separate issue.”
