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JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said the Wall Street lender plans to offer Bitcoin (BTC) to its customers in a stark shift from his historical stance toward the digital asset.
During JPMorgan’s Investor Day, Dimon reiterated that he is “not a fan” of Bitcoin, but acknowledged that clients will continue to demand access to it.
He said:
“I don’t think you should smoke, but I defend your right to smoke. I defend your right to buy Bitcoin.”
He also clarified that the bank does not plan on offering custody services.
Dimon maintains skepticism
Dimon’s criticism of crypto is consistent with past remarks. In a January interview, he called Bitcoin “worthless.” He tied it to criminal activity, repeating concerns raised in his 2023 Senate testimony, in which he advocated for shutting down the industry altogether.
At the 2024 World Economic Forum in Davos, he referred to Bitcoin as a “pet rock,” while in April of the same year, Dimon called crypto a “Ponzi Scheme.”
In his May 19 remarks, he also stated that “blockchain doesn’t matter as much” as people think. However, JPMorgan has continued to build infrastructure around blockchain technology for institutional use.
Earlier this month, Kinexys completed a test transaction that bridged its private network to a public layer-1 blockchain, using tokenized short-term Treasury assets and real-time settlement protocols. Chainlink and Ondo Finance participated in this pilot.
Additionally, Kinexys processes over $2 billion in transactions daily and plans to scale up dollar-euro settlements using JPM Coin, JPMorgan’s proprietary token.
JPMorgan increases crypto exposure
Amid the remarks on Bitcoin offering, JPMorgan’s 13F filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the first quarter of 2025 showed a dramatic increase in crypto exposure through exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
As of March 31, the firm reported $16.3 million in crypto-related holdings, up from $1 million at the end of 2024. The lender’s crypto exposure is primarily via Bitcoin and Ethereum-linked instruments.
As of March 31, JPMorgan held a little over 263,000 shares of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) and around 3000 shares of Bitwise’s spot Bitcoin ETF (BITB).
The lender also held shares of Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) and Mini Trust ETFs, Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC), and new allocations to Bitwise and Franklin Templeton Ethereum products.
The firm’s crypto-related holdings are just a tiny fraction of its $4.4 trillion in assets under management at the end of the first quarter.
It’s unclear how much of the portfolio reflects proprietary positioning versus facilitation of client demand. The bank has previously clarified that holding some ETF allocations could be a part of its market-making services.
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