According to foreign media reports, Bank of America Merrill Lynch has banned clients and financial advisors trading on behalf of the company to buy bitcoin on the grounds that bitcoin is suitable for investment.
According to informed sources, the ban applies to all accounts and not only prohibits some 17,000 consultants from introducing Bitcoin-related investments but also prohibits them from executing clients’ orders for trading Grayscale’s Bitcoins Investment Trust (GBTC). The company’s existing policy has banned the trading of new bitcoin futures and the latest ban further widens the scope of the policy.
Informed sources said the holdings of the bitcoin fund positions can be retained in the brokerage account but does not include a fee-based consulting account. The source said that Merrill Lynch last December 8 has already begun to implement this policy, just before the launch of the first US currency bitcoin.
According to an internal memo seen by The Wall Street Journal, the reason for not buying GBTC is because of concern over whether the product is suitable for investment and not eligible for inclusion in the portfolio. GBTC means Grayscale Bitcoin Fund’s stock trading symbol.
A spokesman for Merrill Lynch confirmed the decision, which applies to all companies, including self-owned accounts. The decision of Merrill Lynch to ban the trading of bitcoin investment trusts again shows Wall Street’s cautious stance on digital currencies. According to people familiar with the situation, the U.S. brokerage unit at UBS AG has banned its consultants from trading Bitcoin-related products. Several other companies, including JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup, and RBC, have also told clients that the launch of the first Bitcoin futures on December 10 last year will not provide the trading channels in the market.
Reference: Reuters
