Merrill Lynch has blocked clients and financial advisers who trade on their behalf from buying bitcoin, citing concerns over the cryptocurrency’s investment suitability, reports The Wall Street Journal.
The ban applies to all accounts and precludes the firm’s roughly 17,000 advisers not only from pitching bitcoin-related investments but also from executing client requests to trade the Grayscale Investment Trust bitcoin fund, according to WSJ. The ban extends an existing policy barring access to newly launched bitcoin futures.
Existing positions in the bitcoin fund can be maintained in brokerage accounts, but not in fee-based advisory account.
“The decision to close GBTC to new purchases is driven by concerns pertaining to suitability and eligibility standards of this product,” according to an internal memo reviewed by the Journal.
-RW
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