Banks have shown a keen interest in the blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies over the past couple of years. Many of the leading banks across the planet have been filing patents which deal with blockchain and crypto-based technologies, and Bank of America, the second largest bank in the US, has been an active name when it comes to that. The latest patent from Bank of America talks about a cryptocurrency storage system.
This patent, filed with the USPTO, which has been titled ‘BLOCK CHAIN ENCRYPTION TAGS’ talks about a blockchain-based system which manages cryptocurrency storage in an enterprise setting. The patent highlights how a system can be used to manage encryption tags. This is yet another step towards their goal of creating a cryptocurrency online vault system - which Bank of America has been filing patents for, since 2014!
While the bank is yet to make any comment on it, the patent envisions a future where cryptocurrencies are a common means of payment - and people are trusting third-party services such as banks to keep their cryptocurrencies. This is quite a bullish proposal in support of cryptocurrencies. This Patent states that:
“Enterprises may handle a large number of financial transactions on a daily basis. As technology advances, financial transactions involving cryptocurrency have become more common. For some enterprises, it may be desirable to securely store cryptocurrency.”
This is a very detailed patent from Bank of America as it highlights in 344 points - the exact description of how the patent would be used along with related applications, and how it all ties in to the 2014 patent filed by the bank, titled "CRYPTOCURRENCY ONLINE VAULT STORAGE SYSTEM,”
Similar to most banks around the world, Bank of America too has had a flip-flopping stance when it comes to cryptocurrencies. While it develops patents that talk of cryptocurrencies and the blockchain technology, the bank has been quite critical of cryptos in the past. It called Bitcoin ‘history’s biggest bubble’, and even denied providing credit card payments for cryptocurrency related transactions. Bank of America had even commented on cryptocurrencies during their most recent annual report, stating that cryptocurrency adoption is a threat to their business model.
This strict stance on cryptocurrencies, however, isn’t really reflected in their patent filings - as the company talks of a future where cryptocurrencies become very common - almost like fiat money, and that they, the bank, become the custodians of cryptocurrencies! The bank has, in the past, filed multiple patents that talk about cryptocurrencies and the blockchain technology. These patents include the likes of a blockchain-based data storage system, a system for external validation of data, tools for blockchain security, etc.
Banks tapping into the cryptocurrency markets is rather strange, because cryptocurrencies were created in the first place to bypass the existing banking systems. If banks were to adapt to cryptocurrency payments - that would bring in a higher amount of regulations into the system - something which most cryptocurrency traders are not so keen about. Stay tuned with us for more updates on patent filings.
