Bank of America Files Patent for Cryptocurrency Storage System
Bank of America files a patent describing secure storage of digital assets, including Bitcoin. The move highlighted growing institutional interest in custody solutions.
On February 2, 2018, Bank of America filed a patent with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for a cryptocurrency storage system designed to securely hold digital assets such as Bitcoin. The application described methods of managing private keys, mitigating theft risks, and enabling custodial services within regulated banking infrastructure.
Although patents often serve more as protective measures than immediate business initiatives, Bank of America’s filing demonstrated that legacy financial institutions were increasingly positioning themselves for a future in which digital asset custody might become a standard service. For Bitcoin, the significance lay not in the patent itself but in the recognition by one of the largest U.S. banks that custody challenges were worth addressing at scale.
Secure custodial solutions remain a precondition for large institutional inflows into Bitcoin, as most regulated funds and pension systems cannot self-custody digital assets.
This filing added to the growing evidence in early 2018 that major banks were considering ways to profit from Bitcoin’s rise, whether through custody, derivatives, or research.While skepticism among traditional banks remained high, intellectual property moves like this foreshadowed the eventual rollout of mainstream Bitcoin custody and investment products.