Bank of America has appointed Sonali Theisen to lead its global digital assets platform as the Wall Street lender expands its work on blockchain-based financial services.
Theisen will oversee the design, development, expansion and governance of the bank’s blockchain infrastructure. Her responsibilities will cover tokenized deposits, stablecoins, digital collateral transfers, cryptocurrency settlement and custody services.
The appointment signals Bank of America’s growing interest in using blockchain technology for mainstream banking and capital-markets activities, rather than focusing solely on cryptocurrency trading.
Tokenized deposits and stablecoins are increasingly being explored by banks as a way to make payments and settlements faster and more efficient. Blockchain-based systems could also allow financial institutions to move collateral more quickly between markets and counterparties.
Theisen already holds a senior role at Bank of America, leading electronic trading and strategic investments within its fixed income, currencies and commodities business.
The bank has also appointed Kevin Milsom to lead artificial intelligence transformation across its global markets division.
Milsom will be responsible for expanding the use of AI across the business, including tools that could improve trading operations, automate routine processes and help employees analyse large volumes of market information.
The two appointments reflect the growing importance of digital assets and artificial intelligence among major global banks. Financial institutions are increasingly investing in blockchain infrastructure, tokenization and generative AI as they look to modernize systems and reduce operating costs.
Much of the industry’s focus has shifted from speculative cryptocurrency products toward practical uses of distributed-ledger technology, including payments, custody, collateral management and the tokenization of traditional financial assets.
Bank of America’s latest appointments suggest that the lender is preparing to bring more of these technologies into its core markets and banking operations.