BofA Clients Welcome to Buy Bitcoin, CEO Says, Just Not at BofA

(Bloomberg) -- Bank of America Corp. customers are welcome to buy Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, just not through the lender’s Merrill Lynch unit, Chief Executive Officer Brian Moynihan said.

“We have limited our relationships and I think the thing speaks for itself,” Moynihan said Wednesday on a call with reporters after reporting fourth-quarter results. “We’ve basically told people that they could buy it in other accounts, but not at Merrill Lynch. And so it’s just our view that customers should be careful here.”

Merrill Lynch told employees last month not to offer clients Grayscale’s Bitcoin Investment Trust, one of the few financial instruments directly holding the digital coin. Moynihan said Wednesday the bank is concerned with not being able to identify who’s buying and selling.

“That’s one of the intellectual problems,” he said.

--With assistance from Katherine Chiglinsky

To contact the reporter on this story: Laura J. Keller in New York at lkeller22@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael J. Moore at mmoore55@bloomberg.net, Steven Crabill, Steve Dickson

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