Banks are drawing up their lists of potential crypto IPO candidates amid broad optimism for the sector, which drove the largest and oldest digital token bitcoin to a record high earlier this year. And signs of lenders' renewed interest are cropping up elsewhere, in one case, an HSBC Holdings Plc senior foreign exchange strategist now has an expanded title of head of digital assets research as well. At Bank of America, conversations about crypto in the firm's investment bank are heating up as it prepares for more deal activity, with the lender eager to grab a slice of the hundreds of millions in fees those deals could generate, according to some of the people. The bank's chief executive officer Brian Moynihan said during a CNBC interview earlier this year that banks "will come in hard on the transactional side", if regulation is established. "We know how to enter the field," Moynihan said. "From the transactional side, I think you'll see the bank industry make moves." — Bloomberg