JPMorgan Chase, the largest banking establishment by assets in the US, may be weeks away from granting its wealthy clients access to an actively managed Bitcoin fund.
According to a report from Coindesk, the banking behemoth could unveil the Bitcoin fund as early as late June after the bank’s co-president Daniel Pinto said that client demand for the leading cryptocurrency “isn’t there yet.”
Bitcoin asset manager New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG) is expected to provide custodial services for JPMorgan’s BTC fund.
The development comes just over month after Morgan Stanley became the first big bank in the US to grant its wealthy clients access to Bitcoin funds. While details on JPMorgan’s plans are scant, Morgan Stanley is limiting Bitcoin investments to 2.5% of a client’s net worth.
JPMorgan’s move to give wealthy clients access to Bitcoin funds also comes about a month after the bank unveiled a structured note designed to give investors exposure to cryptocurrencies through a basket of 11 stocks. Branded the J.P. Morgan Cryptocurrency Exposure Basket, some of the featured stocks include MicroStrategy, Square, Riot Blockchain, Nvidia, and PayPal – companies with strong ties to the crypto industry.
JPMorgan’s foray into cryptocurrencies stands in stark contrast to the previously stated views of the bank’s chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon. In 2017, Dimon called the flagship crypto asset a “fraud” and “worse than tulip bulbs.”
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