The Bank of America has a large collection of over 50 blockchain applications in the world. On the 30th of October, yet another application was filed. The Bank of America is the second largest bank in the United States.
It has been at the forefront of building an informal infrastructure for blockchain patents. While the bank has been receiving blockchain patents, it’s not exactly bullish about cryptocurrencies and the underlying blockchain technology. In fact, on more than one occasion, the bank has been spotted critiquing the industry.
Bank Of America And Cryptocurrency-related Patents
In March 2014, the bank of America filed its first blockchain-related patent. This was published by the United States Patent Trademark Office. While the term blockchain was not mentioned, the company implied that the patent was for cryptocurrencies and the underlying blockchain technology.
This was the first ever cryptocurrency related patent that was filed by a major bank in the United States at the time.
The fact that the bank filed a blockchain patent doesn’t come as a surprise. This is because it was one of the first banks to initiate coverage of Bitcoin back in 2013.
In 2015, the bank was awarded with a cryptocurrency related patent. At the same time, it also joined R3. R3 is a consortium of banks and financial institutions that believe in Ripple’s technology. The consortium has over 200 members.
Ever since the first patent was filed, more patents have been piling up for the Bank of America. In 2015, about ten new entries that were filed in 2014 were published by the bank.
In 2016, the bank announced that it was making plans to release 20 new blockchain-related patents. During an interview with CNBC, Catherine Bassant, the chief operating officer of the Bank of America said:
“I am a technologist and so I think blockchain technology is fascinating. We are trying our best to lead the way in the industry. Most people don’t understand why the Bank of America is interested in the blockchain and cryptocurrency patent space”.
As of June 2018, the Bank of America had up to 45 live patents. This was how they secured the number one position in the patent race. However, the fact that the company has shown interest in the blockchain patent race doesn’t mean it is eventually going to develop blockchain based products.
This also doesn’t mean it is bullish about the entire industry. The company is more interested in registering the technology than in developing it.
