In an annual filing with the Security and Exchange Commission, the second largest bank in the United States has expressed fears about the potential of cryptocurrency to undermine the control of big banks.
It has long been speculated that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies pose a threat to large banks and traditional financial institutions. Today, Bank of America admits that it could be forced to face the "substantial" costs associated with the emerging market.
"The widespread adoption of new technologies, including Internet services, cryptocurrencies and payment systems, may require substantial expenditures to modify or adapt our existing products and services," writes the second largest US bank in its filing. annual report to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
In addition, the report also notes that cryptocurrencies can present serious challenges in tracking the movement of client funds, and may therefore make it less easy to comply with regulations.
In this spirit, Bank of America unsurprisingly joined the club of banks that prevent customers from using credit cards to buy cryptocurrencies, saying: "We think customers should pay attention."
Of course, financial institutions could afford to be a little more cautious themselves.
Last week, Visa caused an error, which doubled customer purchase orders from Coinbase several times. The mistake that Visa originally attributed to the crypto-currency exchange has exhausted the accounts of many customers and caused a lot of headaches.
Although Bitcoin and cryptocurrency supporters have long speculated that the big banks and financial institutions would be threatened by the new decentralized market, Bank of America's SEC filing is one of the first this feeling has been recorded.
The fear of Bank of America is not without validation. Matt Hougan, an ETF industry veteran and executive at Bitwise, recently told Bloomberg that cryptocurrencies could reach a cumulative market capitalization of $ 1 trillion by the end of the year.