Merrill Lynch has blocked clients and financial advisers who trade on their behalf from buying bitcoin, citing concerns over the cryptocurrency’s investment suitability. 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 a person familiar with the matter. The ban extends an existing policy barring access to newly launched bitcoin futures. ...
Merrill Lynch has barred its clients and financial advisers from trading in bitcoin , as well as bitcoin futures or investment products . The firm 's 17,000 advisers are prohibited from making bitcoin - related investments . They also do not accept client requests to take new investments in the Grayscale Investment Trust bitcoin fund , an open - ended vehicle deriving its value from the price of the cryptocurrency . The securities brokerage arm of UBS Group also bars clients from making client investments in bitcoin - related investments . JPMorgan , RBC and Citigroup are also among firms that restricted client access to bitcoin futures when they launched in early December .