In another sign that financial giants are starting to move into the cryptocurrency space, Bank of America, the second biggest bank in the United States, has applied for a blockchain patent for the secure storage of cryptocurrency.

Titled “Blockchain encryption tags” and described as a “system that includes a device with a processor is configured to receive a first set of data elements and to obtain an encryption key from a memory,” this is one of more than 50 blockchain related patents filed by the bank. The system will record and store crypto-transactions made by enterprises, improving data security with encryption.

The patent is a reproduction of a U.S. non-provisional application from 2014 entitled, “Cryptocurrency Online Vault Storage System” and has just been released by the U.S. Patent and Trademarks Office.

Financial institutions and crypto-storage

Major financial firms have struggled to get a handle on the cryptocurrency sector. The particular features of trading and storing cryptocurrency cause problems for institutions trying to fit them into their existing financial systems. Most of the anticipation over a potential Bitcoin ETF is for precisely this reason. Many people and firms want to have exposure to cryptocurrency, they just don’t want to have to deal with the complexities of trading and storing it.

Earlier this month we reported on the rumours that Goldman Sachs was responding to demand from its clients to develop a cryptocurrency storage system. Any such development could profoundly change the crypto landscape as institutional clients would be able to trade and hold cryptocurrency without having to secure it themselves.

It seems that Bank of America has the same idea. Should both of these giants enter the market it could mark a seachange in the development of cryptocurrency as a mainstream asset.

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