14. MORGAN STANLEY: 'totally surreal'
Morgan Stanley has been cautious in its approach to cryptocurrency. The bank hosted an event centered around the cryptocurrency at its New York headquarters last March, but CEO James Gorman has called bitcoin "totally surreal."
13. LLOYDS: hackathon sponsor
Lloyds has been one of the quietest when it comes to dealing with bitcoin and the blockchain. The bank has published a guide to the cryptocurrency on its website, but beyond that has only sponsored hackathons dealing with the technology.
12. BANK OF AMERICA MERRILL LYNCH: bitcoin 'may emerge as a serious competitor to traditional money transfer providers'
Bank of America Merrill Lynch was one of the first banks to write about bitcoin back in December 2013. Strategist David Woo saying the cryptocurrency could "become a major means of payment for e-commerce and may emerge as a serious competitor to traditional money transfer providers."
Woo has said however that he doesn't rate bitcoin as an investment.
11. BNP PARIBAS: adding bitcoin to a currency fund, maybe
BNP Paribas analyst Johann Palychata has written several notes on the history and potential application of bitcoin and the blockchain, looking at its use in payments, securities issuing, fund distribution, and international trades.
The bank is also reportedly looking at ways of incorporating bitcoin into one of its currency funds, according to the International Business Times.
10. HSBC: looking for interns who understand bitcoin
HSBC's head of innovation Patrick Mang told International Business Times that the bank is in "very early stage conversation" about the potential of the blockchain. AltcoinToday also claims HSBC is looking for interns who can help the bank understand bitcoin.
HSBC has been cautious with bitcoin in the past. Last December the bank cut ties with Jersey-based hedge fund Global Advisors, the world's first regulated bitcoin fund, over fears around "money laundering risk", the BBC reports.
9. JPMORGAN: 'Silicon Valley is coming'
JPMorgan filed a patent for a digital currency that looks on paper similar to bitcoin back in 2013, but little has come from this. CEO Jamie Dimon has been publicly dismissive of bitcoin calling it a "terrible store of value."
But Dimon is interested in the blockchain. In his letter to shareholder earlier this year he said JPMorgan needs to look to Silicon Valley innovators to stop the bank being overtaken.
JPMorgan is also one of the founding members of the R3 blockchain partnership and Dimon said during a recent question and answer session that the bank "has a study group on the whole thing."
8. CREDIT SUISSE: looking at blockchain investments
Credit Suisse published a paper on bitcoin earlier in the year which concluded that "fluctuations in value are what is stopping bitcoins from becoming more widespread."
Alan Freudenstein and Greg Grimaldi, the co-heads of Credit Suisse's Fintech investment fund, told Financial News in an interview that they have looked at blockchain companies as potential investments but have not found a winning company yet. Credit Suisse is a founding member of the R3 blockchain partnership.
7. GOLDMAN SACHS: $50 million (£32.4 million) investment in Circle
Goldman took part in a $50 million (£32.4 million) investment in Circle, a US startup trying to use the blockchain to improve consumer payments.
Goldman has also discussed the potential of bitcoin and the blockchain to revolutionise finance both in research papers and presentations to clients. The bank is also rumoured to be close to signing on to the R3 blockchain partnership.
6. DEUTSCHE BANK: looking at derivatives contracts, know-your-customer and anti-money laundering registries
The Wall Street Journal reports that Deutsche Bank is "exploring the potential commercial application of distributed ledgers in areas including the enforcement and clearing of derivatives contracts, know-your-customer and anti-money laundering registries and surveillance, and securities asset servicing."
In a note in July Deutsche economist Thomas Dapp called bitcoin "one of the first truly disruptive ideas from the fintech sector" and speculated that big banks could "defend their business models by implementing certain parts of the blockchain technology."
Deutsche Bank is also opening 3 innovation labs in Berlin, London, and San Francisco and these will reportedly look at the blockchain.
5. ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND: working with Ripple, a startup that uses blockchain technology for transaction settlements
Royal Bank of Scotland is currently undertaking a proof-of-concept trial with Ripple, a startup that uses blockchain technology for the settlement of transactions using traditional currencies. RBS announced the trial just a day after an IT glitch delayed 600,000 payments.
The bank is also in early stage discussions with Coinbase and Blockchain, Coindesk reports.
RBS is also one of the founding members of the R3 blockchain partnership.
4. SANTANDER: has identified up to 25 uses for bitcoin
Mariano Belinky, head of Santander's venture capital arm InnoVentures, told Business Insider earlier this year that the bank is experimenting internally with blockchain technology and has identified 20 to 25 uses for the technology.
A source told Business Insider that InnoVentures is also considering investing in a startup working with the blockchain, but Belinky declined to comment.
Santander authored a joint report with Oliver Wyman and Anthemis Group earlier this year estimating that blockchain technology could save banks $20 billion (£12.9 billion) a year by 2020 through application in payments and smart contracts in areas like securities trading.
3. BARCLAYS: funding 45 different 'experiments' with the blockchain
The bank is working with blockchain startups in its Techstars Accelerator labs in London, Manchester, and New York.
Barclays has also partnered with one startup that's been through the programme, Safello, and the pair are working on a proof-of-concept using blockchain technology for payment processing. Barclays also has two bitcoin "labs" above old branches in London.
Barclays' Chief Design and Digital Officer Derek White, who oversees bitcoin and blockchain at the bank, told Business Insider the bank is looking at over 45 experiments using bitcoin's blockchain.
Barclays is also a founding member of the R3 blockchain partnership.
2. CITI: working on its own internal version of bitcoin, dubbed Citicoin.
In a May 2014 report, Citi identified cryptocurrencies as one of its 10 disruptive innovations to "stop and think about."
Citi is working on its own internal version of bitcoin, dubbed Citicoin. It has three separate internal blockchains that it tests the digital currency on and has a team that has been looking at distributed ledger technology for "several years," according to Ken Moore, head of Citi Innovation Labs.
Citi recently also took part in a $30 million (£19.4 million) funding round for Chain.com, which builds blockchains for businesses. Nasdaq and Visa also took part in the round.
1. UBS: has a blockchain lab and is developing its own 'mainstream' digital currency
UBS has set up a blockchain lab in London fintech hub Level39 where it is developing its own virtual currency that can be used to settle mainstream financial transactions, according to the Wall Street Journal. The coin is being developed with London company Clearmatics.
UBS' CIO Oliver Bussmann is keenly interested in bitcoin and the blockchain, and is personally mentoring fintech startups in Level39, including some working on the blockchain.
UBS has also launched a competition to find fintech startups to work with, which could involve some elements of the blockchain, and is one of the founding members of the R3 blockchain partnership.
