Bank of America launches research coverage for digital assets

(Reuters) – Bank of America Corp published its first research coverage focused on cryptocurrencies and other digital assets on Monday, joining other mainstream financial institutions as they strengthen their involvement with the asset class.

The move, earlier reported by Bloomberg News, was confirmed later by a BofA spokesperson.

The “digital asset universe is too large to ignore,” the bank’s new cryptocurrencies and digital assets team said in its report.

The team, appointed in July, is headed by insider Alkesh Shah, a former technology analyst, the bank said.

Despite wild price swings, digital assets such as bitcoin have seen a broad institutional interest this year, with large Wall Street banks such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc having restarted https://www.reuters.com/article/us-crypto-currency-goldman-sachs-exclusi-idUSKCN2AT390 their crypto trading desk.

(Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)