> Interesting side anecdote: A person very close to me purchased Bitcoin on the stock market, but Bank of America froze the account on suspicion / risk of money laundering or general FUD. It isn't clear how much of this was due to the bank or the government, as they are in bed together, but it prevented this person from being able to trade Bitcoin in his account anymore. Sadly, had his account not been frozen, he would have doubled his money.
I highly doubt your contact bought bitcoin on the stock market, since there hasn't been an ETF launched. They might've bought bitcoin on an bitcoin exchange and had their bank account frozen- it still happens frequently. Banks in the US are still scared to do business with bitcoin folks because they don't want to get undue attention down the line (eg Operation Chokepoint), and banking a potential MSB is more difficult ("know your customer's customers").
They might've bought bitcoin on an bitcoin exchange and had their bank account frozen- it still happens frequently. Banks in the US are still scared to do business with bitcoin folks because they don't want to get undue attention down the line
Banks also don't want to do business with bitcoin exchanges because this makes it trivial to loot an account over which you have gained unauthorised access. At the moment the bittcoin market consists primarily of people who value privacy over convenience and criminals. Until the former gets larger you should expect any reasonable bank to be extremely way of the latter.
I highly doubt your contact bought bitcoin on the stock market, since there hasn't been an ETF launched. They might've bought bitcoin on an bitcoin exchange and had their bank account frozen- it still happens frequently. Banks in the US are still scared to do business with bitcoin folks because they don't want to get undue attention down the line (eg Operation Chokepoint), and banking a potential MSB is more difficult ("know your customer's customers").