Bank of America Names Metaverse as ‘Massive’ Opportunity

The hype around the metaverse narrative in crypto wouldn’t be complete without a shoutout one of the US’ biggest banks.

In a new report from Markets Insider, Haim Israel, head of global thematic investment strategy as BofA said he believed the metaverse was a “massive, massive opportunity.”

"You need the right platforms … that is definitely going to be a big opportunity for this entire ecosystem."

The executive also predicted that the metaverse would be the place where crypto would end being used as currencies rather than speculative instruments. However, he said that existing digital currencies are probably to volatile for that, so he predicted that something similar to stablecoins would instead be used.

Israel predicted that traditional payments companies will become much more interested in crypto if they start being widely used in the metaverse.

"I see a lot of collaboration between the two," he said.

The BofA strategist’s comments aren’t coming out of left field. The bank has been fairly vocal on its pro-crypto outlook in the past. In October, BofA released a full report on digital assets, a space that it said was “too big too ignore.”

Alkesh Shah, head of global cryptocurrency and digital asset strategy and leader of the report, said that while Bitcoin was important, “the digital asset ecosystem is so much more.”

“Our research aims to explore the implications across industries including finance, technology, supply chains, social media and gaming."

"Digital assets are transforming the way in which markets, businesses and central banks operate," said Candace Browning, head of BofA Global Research. "Bank of America offers a market-leading global payments platform and blockchain expertise, and the addition of digital asset research further strengthens the depth and breadth of our offerings for investors."

BofA, like other banking giants, launched a new branch in July solely dedicated to the research of cryptocurrency and digital assets.