JPMorgan could launch a Bitcoin (BTC) fund by summer

JPMorgan is reportedly preparing to offer a BItcoin fund targeting its wealthy clientele. If this pushes through, JPMorgan will become the largest U.S. bank to embrace the asset class and the latest indication of Wall Street’s growing acceptance of digital currencies.

JPMorgan could launch its Bitcoin fund as early as this summer, according to Coindesk, citing two unnamed persons familiar with the matter as its sources. A third source told the publication that Bitcoin-focused institutional investment firm NYDIG will be JPMorgan’s custody provider.

Multiple sources also told Coindesk that the fund will be actively managed as opposed to the passively managed products offered by Galaxy Digital and Pantera Capital. The BTC fund will be targeted to the bank’s private wealth clients.

Wall Street banks have been hesitating on whether to offer clients exposure to digital currencies, according to Yahoo Finance. Comparatively, JPMorgan has been more aggressive in approaching crypto as it already added crypto exchanges Coinbse and Gemini Trust as banking clients last year.

However, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon has been known for being a Bitcoin critic and called the crypto a dangerous fraud in 2017. “If you’re stupid enough to buy it, you’ll pay the price for it one day,” he once said.

He later toned down his stance but still expressed his opposition to investing in BTC by saying that the crypto is “not my cup of tea” late last year. He also argued that the government will regulate the asset class.

However, the bank appeared to have changed its stance by February this year. “If over time an asset class develops that is going to be used by different asset managers and investors, we will have to be involved,” JPMorgan Chase & Co. Co-President Daniel Pinto said in an interview with CNBC. “The demand isn’t there yet, but I’m sure it will be at some point.”

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