Bitcoin Forum

See
https://www.coindesk.com/bank-of-america-cryptocurrency-risk-factor-annual-report-10-k/

Seems that they are somewhat scared by the competition of crypto...


"In a passage about new competitors in the financial services industry, Bank of America expressed caution about how client preferences could lead them to use products like cryptocurrencies - for which, as it stands, the bank does not offer any support."..

Sounds like it..
Cheers

All banks should be fearful of cryptocurrencies and it's foolish if they don't recognize that. They have the power to compete with them in a way that banks are not used to. They cannot simply buy cryptocurrencies and take them under their control due to their decentralized nature.

Cryptocurrencies (like bitcoin) are only a threat for the international wire transfers these days. As long as you can't give out loans in bitcoin without the proper (and legalised) collateral background, it's not as urgent for the banks to handle the crypto story. Also, as long as bitcoin (and the others) are so volatile, everyday people will stay away from them. Mass adoption is a need for bitcoin and for the other cryptos yet, to let all the people know about bitcoin and the possible advantages of them, compared to the current banking system. But as long as scammy ICOs are not regulated somehow, people won't be brave enough to join this party... So there's a lot to do until bitcoin will be a real threat to banks, but banks are really cautious, so they are analysing the current situation, and they are trying to prevent the future losses, so this is why they think about crytos like Bank of America.

banks as they are structured today may become relics of the past should they continue to isolate crypto currencies especially when a significant portion of the population is heading in that direction.As a matter of fact they are only relevant because at some point we have to convert our bitcoins to fiat money as not all transactions are possible with bitcoins , should this situation change tomorrow then banks are irrelevant and would disappear like the old dinosaurs they are ,so every time a company accepts bitcoins as payments its another nail in the coffin of these banks , it is therefore imperative that they try to be as inclusive and "friendly " to cryptocurrencies as a failure to integrate it into the system will ultimately result in the death of banks as they exist today.Having said this its understandable why bank of america is scared .

Banks aren't scared of cryptocurrencies. If Bitcoin gets a lot more expensive then Banks can just adapt to do transactions with customers through BC.

Banks are scared of bitcoin because it disrupts the need for a bank to intermediate transactions. No need for ids to make transactions, no collateral and interest fees.

When banks publish 10Ks, they try to highlight almost all the risk factors that they envisage, whether material or immaterial. Not doing so could open them to litigation in the future. That is why Bank of America seems to have flagged this risk, even though they might not pay much importance to it. You can expect all banks to publish such paragraphs going forward in their 10Ks.

Crypto is a direct thread to banks and everyhing they've built so far. The blockchain technology removes the middleman, as the robots steal the jobs of the people in factories. Technology is amazing.

I agree Banks scared of bitcoin indeed. The banking system is dead in the near future the only to survive is they need to accept blockchain and make a new token under bitcoin which then they can survive in the long run. If they succeeded their plan all major financial institution will embrace cryptocurrencies.

Many banks will have to lose due to Bitcoin. Sooner or later Banks will no longer be used for transfers but rather to just get loans, maybe not even this since all the money will be gone into the crypto market.

Yes it could be possible that USA are very scared about crypto in general ,like China too.  What they are very scared is the way the new start up can get very easy financial support from ICO in general. ICO is one of the greatest way to financial a  big project and they don't like this.

I've said it before, banks aren't scared of cryptocurrencies (especially when they're still in the early stages), they're scared of people taking their savings outside the system. Bankers could create their own digital currency and it would be massive blow for the current cryptocurrencies, but they won't do that since they have protect their own interests by keeping the ponzi fiat alive. So for now, I think bankers are being cautious, not scared.

Not scared, just careful.  They focus too much on profit and too little on their actual goals. They're not ''scared'' but they're worried that their profits will reduce and will prevent that.

They should just make sure the economy is growing though, that's more important than their personal profit.

I don't think that's going to happen at all, and I don't think any bank views crypto as a threat.  I think that's a fairly naive view amongst crypto diehards. 

Banks will figure out a way to co-opt crypto to make money from it--these banks like Bank of America have been in business for decades, and they employ the best minds in finance.  You think something like bitcoin is a threat to them?  Highly unlikely in my opinion. 

They'll figure out a way to profit from it, and probably a way to fuck it all up.  Mark my words.

I think we'll see banks change significantly in the future by adopting the technology behind cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.

There's a lot of paperwork involved for banks in certain transactions that crypto handles with ease. Sending a significant amount of money through banks cross border takes high fees and usually 3-5 business days usually depending on the method. Some methods exist in places like Canada (such as Interac E-Transfer) which lets you send money instantly to a financial institution, but banks usually cap that limit to around $2,000 a day (I know my Bank caps my E-Transfer at $1,000 a day if I ever want to use it). With Bitcoin or any other crypto it takes minutes with low fees to transfer any amount around the world any time of day. This is much different than banks for which a lot of their services you can only initiate during business hours (Mon-Fri 9am to 5pm).

I don't think they're truly 'scared' of Bitcoin replacing them. I read a report that banks like JP Morgan and RBC were "exploring" blockchain tech for their own payments. If more and more people start using BTC or see the value in BTC, banks will simply adapt. They'll start offering similar services to make sure their clients have the same convenience. They won't be able to offer the same advantages as BTC, like decentralization, but they will eventually adapt imo, even if they're forced to.

Banks ought to be scared considering what blockchain and crypto does to them. We no longer need banks. In the future we can borrow money through crypto and pay for everything using crypto

If we talk about technology blockchain then banks it thinks are useful because it allows you to conduct fast and cheap transactions and much more, but from the point of view of the fact that this technology itself is decentralized and does not have a single emission center,
this is a frightening factor especially for banks that are part of the Federal Reserve System.

Somehow , banks are Very relevant in the Development of financial institution in the world , despite of the presence of Bitcoin or crypto currencies. Government agencies exclude  crypto to enter government sources of income , that way theres no cause that  banks Will scare. Theres no other way to compensate of those in retirement and salaries but in flat currencies. Some other resources said that they dont know How to make it through internet. The easiest way for them is through banking where they can just withdraw their cash and spend it without  using any more gadgets.

As what I have been heard before about the news that banks of america stopped acceptance of bitcoin transactions, it was something name merril lynch banks, correct me if I am wrong. But, it was not a total bad effects of crypto business, although it was something affects the total operation on that area, but there was a certain analysis, that it is only a threat from government leaders to force crypto business ask assistance from the government.

BoA cited various aspects as it starts a fresh fiscal year in the report. Key among the issues is the widespread acceptance of cryptocurrency in the business world, because the widespread adoption of cryptocurrency could lead to the loss of clients in the future - Bank Of America: Cryptocurrencies Pose A Threat To The Banking Industry (https://bitrazzi.com/bank-america-cryptocurrencies-pose-threat-banking-industry/):

"Clients may prefer to do business with other market participants who engage in business or offer products in areas we deem speculative or risky, such as cryptocurrencies"

"Emerging technologies like cryptocurrencies is making it hard for us to track the movement of money. For us to conform to these laws requires us to enhance our capacity for detection and reporting capabilities as well as the oversight modalities"

You make a good point about loans as that's such a big source of income for banks. The thing is that as money moves away from banks in terms of traditional deposits in to regular checking accounts then they will have less funds in order to give out such loans. While I agree we're a long way from banks being under real threat from bitcoin, they are definitely being hurt by it.

I don't think that banks are afraid of crypto, rather banks are already into crypto. Fund managers and portfolio managers are not dumb enough for them not to see the opportunity in crypto currency. Probably we don't know that they have already invested millions into this and already manipulating the market price. Trying to take advantage to the small fish in the market.

it is not in the best interests of bank to embrace cryptocurrency, it is a competition. on the other hand, it is also not in the best interest and benefits fo the banks not to embrace cryptocurrency.
Many are using cryptocurrency nowadays and it is making its waves and influence in the global market. So I believe it would be a little careless if they don't make any moves to incorporate Cryptos in their roadmaps. It is better to regulate it rather than compete with it, they can't beat cryptos

As we all know that Bitcoin is based on blockchain technology which relies on decentralization that truly represents the democratic values, so it's not about the single bank but the whole banking system needs optimisation in their processing system. In fact, some banks are trying (testing) to implement blockchain technology to transform their traditional system in order to provide a better user experience. Ultimately it is a game of doing it in a faster smarter and better way. As of now, cryptocurrencies are doing good.

Sounds like pretty standard horizon scanning to me. All reputable companies have risk registers to outline technological and sociopolitical events that could impact their business.

In order to introduce Bitcoin into the official currency, the government needs to try very hard.

Any changes will certainly have pros and cons, with the presence of alternative currency like crypto, will certainly result in traditional finances such as fiat. The fear of Bank of America Scared certainly has a reason because in the United States and Canada, many stores and retailers have received Bitcoin as a method of payment.