Financial institutions continue to take a stand against Bitcoin, but its popularity shows no sign of waning. Nolan Bauerle, Director of Research at Coindesk, told Cheddar that companies shying away from cryptocurrency are making an unwise decision, given high investor interest and increased popularity. “Bitcoin doesn’t care, Bitcoin dealt with the [People’s Bank of China] already banning it,” he said. “Here you’ve got these guys...trying to make some kind of political point, and the market and cryptocurrency will not care, and will ignore it to the extent that they’ve already ignored the PBOC.” Financial firm Merrill Lynch recently jumped on the anti-Bitcoin bandwagon, banning clients and financial advisers who trade on their behalf from buying it. Advisers are not allowed to sell Grayscale’s Bitcoin Investment Fund, and bitcoin futures contracts are also forbidden. Bauerle contends that these banks will have to retract and “come back eventually.” For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/inside-the-factors-driving-ripples-xrp-surge).
