Bank Of America Calls Bitcoin 'Impractical,' And Crypto Community Has A Lot To Say About That

Bank of America Corp BAC faced some backlash from the crypto community earlier today, after its criticism of Bitcoin from its latest research note made headlines.

What Happened: The bank’s research note titled “Bitcoin’s Dirty Little Secrets” stated that there is “no good reason to own Bitcoin unless you see prices going up.” According to the bank, Bitcoin’s volatility makes it impractical as a store of value or a payments mechanism.

Why It Matters: The research note was not well received by the crypto community who took to Twitter to share their thoughts about it.

Samson Mow, CSO of blockchain technology company Blockstream, shared a graph of Bank of America’s stock price over the years and said, “If your stonk chart looks like this, you don’t get to call Bitcoin volatile.”

If your stonk chart looks like this, you don't get to call #Bitcoin volatile. @BankofAmerica pic.twitter.com/nVpqlFhejY

— Samson Mow (@Excellion) March 19, 2021

The research note also claimed that central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) would be “kryptonite for cryptocurrency,” which most users described as the “worst take” on cryptocurrency they have heard.

Popular Bitcoin proponent Anthony Pompliano stated on Twitter that the Bank of America has a higher chance of failing than Bitcoin, and was quickly backed by most of his 650k followers on the platform. CZ, CEO of the largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume Binance, suggested that it wouldn’t be just Bank of America, but rather, all banks that would fail before Bitcoin did.

Bank of America has a higher chance of failing than Bitcoin.

— Pomp (@APompliano) March 17, 2021

The bank’s criticism, however, was appreciated by known Bitcoin critic Peter Schiff – According to him, the research report “concluded the obvious” and he went on to reiterate his belief that Bitcoin is the ultimate bubble.

Bank of America’s stance on Bitcoin comes at a time where large institutions and public companies are buying and holding the digital asset on their balance sheets. Earlier this week, Morgan Stanley MS said it would offer Bitcoin to its wealthy clients.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading at $58,500, up 5% in the past 24-hours. With over $1 trillion in market cap, Bitcoin is larger than JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM, Citigroup Inc C ,and Bank of America combined.