Ever since its initial explosion in the early 2010s, Bitcoin has experienced a steady influx of interest from the general public and from institutions as well.
This has led to a ‘gold rush’ of sorts, with various financial institutions trying to get into the crypto game and establish a strong customer base. It now seems that Bank of America/ Merrill Lynch is the latest institution to throw their hat into the ring with a new announcement of a bitcoin trading platform.
This is seen as a move to rival the trading platforms run by Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, who are rivals of Bank of America.
The announcement was made by the ICO Journal on the 15th of September who got the information via a note passed to them.
Details
So far, not too many details are available about how the platform is going to work as the statement released revealed little.
However, this isn’t unusual as little is known about the platforms run by Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.
This is simply another example of Wall Street giants who are developing Bitcoin-related products in recent times. These products and trading platforms are to be run on regulated trading platforms.
This sort of exposure and approval from Wall Street is huge for Bitcoin and for cryptocurrency as a whole.
The official statement from the ICO Journal states:
“Yes, Bank of America and Merrill Lynch is set to produce a Bitcoin product that will be tradeable for clients and based on the futures markets in aggregate. As Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley rush into the market, Bank of America seems to be having a ‘don’t forget about us’ moment and following the same roadmap.”
NDFs
The product being developed by BOA is connected to a non-deliverable forward or NDF.
An NDF is a common tool used in foreign exchange markets and commodities markets. They are a futures contract in which the parties involved agree to settle the difference between the NDF price and the prevailing spot price.
A race to the top
In the last year, there has been a ‘race’ of sorts between financial institutions and Wall Street giants to see who will put out a bitcoin derivate product first.
Initially, Goldman Sachs was seen to be in the lead and their upcoming product was talked about all summer.
Then, Citi Group was reported to be doing the same thing. Now, BOA has joined the race and so has Morgan Stanley.
Needless to say, it will be an interesting Q4 for Bitcoin.
