Tom Montag, COO of Bank of America and Michael Gronager, CEO of Chainalysis
Tom Montag, COO of Bank of America (left), and Michael Gronager, CEO of Chainalysis (right).
Isabelle Lee/Insider

Bank of America COO Tom Montag shared his thoughts Thursday on cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and central bank digital currencies in a conference hosted by Chainalysis in New York, where he was interviewed by the software firm's CEO, Michael Gronager.

Montag, who will retire at the end of the year, has been at the helm of BofA's massive investment banking unit and has been responsible for all of the businesses that serve companies and institutional investors, including the firm's global research and global markets sales.

Here are Montag's 7 best quotes from the conference, lightly edited and condensed for clarity:

  1. "They remind me of derivatives" in their early days. – On cryptocurrencies today
  2. "I don't understand that as well as everyone in the room … you're just always nervous. Is there really a dollar behind stablecoin?" – On his views on stablecoins
  3. "It will be inevitable, but it will be fine." – On the Federal Reserve launching CBDCs
  4. "I don't view it as competition at all. I view it as just another asset class … and people like it for all sorts of different reasons." – On the perception that banks are in competition with crypto
  5. "I came around to how this could have value as a global store of value. It's hard to appreciate the importance of that as an American when you're used to having a stable currency." – On bitcoin
  6. "Any time you can make assets more liquid, that'll lead to positive change for the world." – On improving the financial system
  7. "You're looking at a sea of data. You need algorithms that can automatically surface what you're looking for." – On his advice to crypto firms building out compliance programs
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