Multinational investment and financial services bank, Bank of America has applied for a patent that covers a cryptocurrency storage system for use by custodians.
Specifically, the application describes a computing device that can manage blockchain encryption tags and handle a substantial number of daily transactions.
The US Patent & Trademark Office published details of the application on Thursday following its initial filing in April. It outlines a system of entrusting cryptocurrency accounts’ secured private keys to a custodian third party such as a bank. It appears to anticipate a future where the general public has mass adopted cryptocurrencies and require traditional banking services for their assets.
Describing its place and necessity in the future of financial services, the application reads: ”As technology advances, financial transactions involving cryptocurrency have become more common. For some enterprises, it may be desirable to securely store cryptocurrency.” The Bank of America began its development of this online cryptocurrency vault system in 2014.
Don’t Take This as a Pro-Crypto Stance
While Bank of America may have applied for dozens of blockchain patents (several including cryptocurrency solutions) and invested substantially in blockchain research, top executives at the firm have open criticized Bitcoin on multiple occasions. The chief technology officer called it a ”troubling” payment system due to what she referred to as the lack of ”transparency” that makes it more challenging to catch wrongdoers in the system.
Clients of the bank have been barred from using its credit cards to purchase cryptocurrencies. Bank of America’s latest annual report references cryptocurrencies as a threat to its business model; apparently, it sees the way to combat this is as to get ahead of the game and monetize cryptocurrency use cases via patenting innovations.
The report warns of concerns that people will turn to alternative investment methods outside of its jurisdiction, reading: ”clients may choose to conduct business with other market participants who engage in business or offer products in areas we deem speculative or risky, such as cryptocurrencies.”
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