Bank of America (BofA) Securities, an American multinational investment banking division, has rolled out a cryptocurrency research department, Bloomberg reports, citing the bank officials. The research arm has reportedly been made as a response to the "growing institutional interest."
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Candace Browning, Head of Global Research at BofA Securities, says that the number of corporates mentioning crypto on their earnings calls has gone from 17 in 2020 to approximately 147 "in the most recent quarter."
"This is not just bitcoin anymore, this is digital assets and it is creating a whole ecosystem of new companies, new opportunities, and new applications. This is growing, this is mainstream, and it’s not just bitcoin," Browning added.
As iHodl first reported, BofA announced the new initiative in July. The team led by Alkesh Shah, Founding Member, Data & Innovation Strategy Group at BofA, reports to Michael Maras, who leads currencies and commodities research globally. Earlier this year, BofA also reportedly opened trading of bitcoin (EXANTE: Bitcoin) futures for select clients.
One of the sources close to the matter said the bank had decided to allow some clients to access the cryptocurrency market due to the large amount of margin required to trade the futures.
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