The second-largest bank in the United States, Bank of America, has reportedly started letting some clients trade bitcoin futures after having a conservative approach to the cryptocurrency sector.
According to a report by CoinDesk citing people with knowledge of the matter who wished to remain anonymous, the bank’s move comes due to the large amount of margin required to trade the futures. Some clients, CoinDesk’s sources said, are setting up to trade bitcoin futures while “one or two may have already gone live.”
Bank of America follows a number of investment banks that allow clients to invest in cryptocurrency products. As CryptoGlobe reported, last month Goldman Sachs started trading BTC futures on behalf of its clients with the help of Galaxy Digital. Goldman’s cryptocurrency trading desk was relaunched in March after a three-year hiatus.
Goldman buys and sells bitcoin futures in block trades through the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), which Bank of America will also be using. Its move comes after in 2018 it blocked financial advisers and clients from trading BTC-related instruments.
In a report published in March, Bank of America claimed that only $93 million in capital were needed to influence Bitcoin’s price by 1%. At the time the financial giant slammed bitcoin, calling it a slow, volatile and impractical cryptoasset.
Morgan Stanley notably became the first large bank in the United States to offer its wealth management clients access to bitcoin funds. The investment bank, which has over $4 trillion in client assets, reportedly told financial advisors in March in an internal memo the bank is giving wealthy clients access to three funds that allow them to own bitcoin.
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