Bank of America CEO: If regulators approve, the bank will embrace cryptocurrency payments.

Bank of America Corp (BAC.US) CEO Brian Moynihan, speaking in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, said that if regulators allow it, Bank of America Corp's business will accept cryptocurrency payments. When asked how the industry's attitude towards cryptocurrency might change given Trump's enthusiasm for digital currencies, he said, "If rules are put in place and make it a truly operational area, the banking system will heavily engage in transactions." Currently, Bank of America Corp largely avoids allowing customers to use cryptocurrency for retail transactions, although their institutional trading and wealth management departments have been involved in the Bitcoin ETF market. Industry leaders, including JPMorgan Chase (JPM.US) CEO Jamie Dimon, have criticized Bitcoin as a currency used by criminals and fraudsters. Moynihan said, "If you walk down the street, go into a restaurant to buy lunch, if you can pay with Visa, Mastercard, a debit card, Apple Pay, etc., then this (cryptocurrency) will be an additional way to pay... an instant cash transfer. We already have hundreds of blockchain patents, we know how to enter this field." However, Moynihan did not discuss the idea of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin as an investment or store of value, calling it "actually a completely different issue."