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Jamie Dimon Reverses Course: JPMorgan Will Let Clients Buy Bitcoin—Just Don’t Ask Them to Hold It
- Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan’s CEO who sharply criticised Bitcoin in the past, has reluctantly announced the bank will allow customers to buy the coin though they won’t custody it.
- JPMorgan’s pivot comes shortly after their own analysts reported investors are moving from gold to Bitcoin, showing a significant shift in their previous stance against cryptocurrency.
- Major banks including Morgan Stanley and Bank of America are similarly warming to crypto, with their executives suggesting they’ll work with regulators to offer safe access to digital assets.
- This banking sector shift follows the highly successful US spot Bitcoin ETF launches, which have accumulated over US$125 billion in assets under management, representing 5.6 per cent of all
Pet RocksBitcoin.
Mr “Pet Rock” strikes again: Bitcoin sceptic Jamie Dimon, boss of multinational finance behemoth JPMorgan Chase, has said that the bank will allow customers to buy Bitcoin.
After years of criticism, and yes, calling Bitcoin a “pet rock”, a “fraud” and vowed to “shut it down” if he could, Dimon has now changed his tune.
At a JPMorgan Chase investor day event on Monday, he said he is still no fan of Bitcoin, but that the bank will allow customers to buy BTC, although it will not hold custody.
We are going to allow you to buy it. We’re not going to custody it. We’re going to put it in statements for clients.
Jamie Dimon, CEO and Chairman of JPMorgan Chase Just last week, J.P. Morgan analysts said investors are pivoting from gold to Bitcoin. Nikolas Panigirtzoglou, managing director for the firm, said that “Bitcoin has been pushing out gold and rising”.
This seems to be a case of FOMO, with banks realising what their customers want to invest in.
It’s a stark contrast to a year ago. Just weeks after the US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) were approved, J.P. Morgan published a survey showing that less than 10 per cent of pro traders believed in blockchain.
Related: Ex-BitMEX Boss Hayes Sees Bitcoin Breaching $1M by 2028 on Global Financial Strains
JPMorgan Joins BoA, Morgan Stanley as ETF Flows Surge
Other large banks are now also warming up to crypto, with Morgan Stanley CEO and chairman, Ted Pick, saying that the bank would work with regulators to find out how they could offer their customers access to crypto in a safe way.
Bank of America’s boss, Brian Moynihan, signalled similar sentiments, suggesting adoption would come once regulators provide clarity.
If the rules come in and make it a real thing that you can actually do business with, you’ll find that the banking system will come in hard on the transactional side of it.
Brian Moynihan, BoA Chief Executive and Chairman It is not a coincidence that this follows the ETF approval and launch, which has been a huge success.
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Over the past four trading days, US spot Bitcoin ETFs have added another US$1 billion (AU$1.55 billion) in assets under management, as data from Farside shows. This brings the total to 1.18 million BTC worth US$125.89 billion (AU$195.24 billion) – or 5.6 per cent of all 21 million.
Related: Moody’s Downgrades US, Crypto Reacts Mostly Positive as BTC Reaches $106k
Author
Aaron Feuerstein
Aaron Feuerstein is a freelance writer based in Melbourne. His focus is on decentralised finance and the regulatory space surrounding blockchain. He holds a Master's in Accounting. When he is not studying the latest legal case, he enjoys his time as a modest but eager hobby cook.
