Bank of America CEO says banks would embrace crypto payments if regulators approve

Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said banks in the US are waiting for regulatory approval to embrace cryptocurrencies for payments. According to Moynihan, financial institutions only need the rules to allow the use of cryptocurrencies.

The CEO said this during an interview with CNBC Andrew Sorkin at Davos’s World Economic Forum (WEF), where he highlighted the change in traditional institutions’ perception of crypto.

He said:

“If the rules come in and make it a real thing that you can actually do business with, you’ll find that the banking system will come in hard on the transactional side of it.”

Moynihan appears to be focused on using cryptocurrencies for payments in a similar context to other options such as Debit Cards and Apple Pay. According to the CEO, Bank of America already has several patents for blockchain applications, so it is ready to enter the industry.

However, the bank executive did not discuss the value proposition of cryptocurrencies as an investment. Interestingly, most traditional financial institutions have shown interest in this area by buying spot crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) even as their commercial banking arms pulled away from retail crypto users.

Meanwhile, many in the crypto community have highlighted Moynihan’s comments as a sign of positive tailwinds for the crypto industry. Marathon Digital CEO Fred Thiel noted this was a good sign, while former Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) chairman Chris Giancarlo said it would happen.

When will regulatory clarity come to crypto?

Despite the hype around banks embracing crypto, many in the industry still await an answer regarding when regulatory clarity will come. Many had expected President Donald Trump to officially endorse crypto in his inauguration speech or through one of the first executive orders (EOs)

With neither happening so far, speculations have been flying around on X. One of them comes that an executive order affecting the crypto industry is on the way. Bitcoin magazine CEO David Bailey posted earlier on January 21 that an executive order affecting the crypto industry is among the first 200 that Trump would sign, but he did not specify what the content would be.

He said:

“Got confirmation tonight that our EOs are among the first 200. I have no idea what made it in, but good news cometh.”

Meanwhile, Fox Business journalist Eleanor Terret also claimed that two EOs on establishing a crypto council and banning the creation of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) are awaiting Trump’s signature. There are also speculations that the President will pardon Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht soon, and many expect this to lead to a surge in Bitcoin value.

Changes at SEC and CFTC bodes well for crypto

Although the new president has not made any official declaration that favors crypto, there are still several positive signs for the industry. The two regulators dealing with the sector, the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), now have pro-crypto acting chairs in Mark Uyeda and Caroline Pham, respectively.

According to Fox Business reports, Uyeda, who will leave the post once the Senate confirms presidential nominee Paul Atkins, already plans to reverse some of the erstwhile chair Gary Gensler’s policies. Under Gensler, Uyeda was one of the major critics of the regulation-by-enforcement approach to crypto and described it in one interview as a “disaster for the whole industry.”

With him now in the driving seat, even temporarily, and with another pro-crypto commissioner, Hester Pierce, he has already started making moves to improve regulatory clarity in the interim. Uyeda recently launched a crypto task force to develop a comprehensive framework for the industry. The agency currently has only three commissioners, with Democrat Caroline Crenshaw as the third after Gensler resigned alongside Jaime Lizarraga.

The uncertainty over when regulations will finally arrive has not negatively impacted crypto prices, with Bitcoin still maintaining its value above $100,000 and almost every other asset on an upward trend.

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