JP Morgan Boss Jamie Dimon Says Bank Will Allow Clients to Buy Bitcoin

JP Morgan boss Jamie Dimon mentioned on Monday that his financial institution will permit its prospects to purchase Bitcoin—the newest signal of the financial institution’s elevated openness to the asset, regardless of Dimon’s years of criticizing the most important crypto by market worth and digital property extra broadly. 

In remarks through the funding financial institution’s investor day, Dimon mentioned that JP Morgan purchasers would quickly have the ability to purchase BTC, though the financial institution would not custody it. 

“We’re going to permit you to purchase it,” Dimon mentioned on the financial institution’s annual investor day on Monday. “We’re not going to custody it. We’ll put it in statements for purchasers.”

The pronouncement represents a pivot for JP Morgan and wider embrace of the standard finance world that after shunned Bitcoin.  

Dimon has been notably crucial of Bitcoin, saying at one level that the most important digital coin’s “true use case” was for criminals. 

The billionaire banker has additionally known as Bitcoin “a fraud,” and final 12 months described it as a “pet rock,” earlier than telling journalists he’d “shut it down” if he may. 

“I’ve all the time been against crypto, Bitcoin, etcetera,” he mentioned in 2023. 

However now—probably attributable to shopper calls for—the financial institution will permit prospects to purchase it, Dimon mentioned. 

Decrypt reached out to the financial institution for remark. 

Different high U.S. banks are additionally providing crypto-related merchandise. Morgan Stanley boss Ted Choose said in January the financial institution would work with regulators to see how they may provide crypto safely and mentioned in January that it could permit monetary advisors to pitch some spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds to certified prospects. 

Regardless of criticizing Bitcoin itself, Dimon, who’s been CEO of the world’s largest funding financial institution since 2006, has praised blockchain expertise, and the financial institution has used the expertise for its personal tasks. 

U.S. regulators at the moment are taking a extra relaxed method to the area since crypto-friendly Donald Trump grew to become president final 12 months. 

Below the brand new commander in chief, the Securities and Change Fee in January rescinded the Workers Accounting Bulletin (SAB) No. 121, a invoice that prevented banks from custodying digital property. 

Edited by James Rubin