JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon Allows Bitcoin Purchases

• The CEO has been dubious of Bitcoin for a long time and has even called it a scam and said that he had no interest in purchasing it in 2018.
• Till now, the company has restricted its crypto exposure mainly to futures-based products, not direct ownership of virtual assets. 

The Chief Executive Officer of JP Morgan, Jamie Dimon, has revealed that the bank will permit its clients to purchase Bitcoin but will not custody the cryptocurrency in the near future. 

On May 19, at the firm’s annual investor day, the CEO asserted that we were going to permit you to purchase it. We are not going to custody it. We are going to put it in statements for clients. 

As per the CNBC report, Dimon also commented on his prolonged skepticism regarding crypto assets, highlighting their use in money laundering, sex trafficking, and terrorism. He mentioned that he doesn’t think you should smoke, but he will defend the right to smoke, and he will defend the right to purchase Bitcoin. 

JP Morgan will provide its clients access to Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Till now, the company has restricted its crypto exposure mainly to futures-based products, not direct ownership of virtual assets. 

Skepticism Regarding Bitcoin 

The competitor of the firm, Morgan Stanley, has shifted to provide spot Bitcoin ETFs to eligible clients. Spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States have witnessed major adoption, having around $42 billion in total aggregate inflows since their introduction in January 2024. 

The CEO has been dubious of Bitcoin for a long time and has even called it a scam and said that he had no interest in purchasing it in 2018. In 2021, at the time of the crypto bull market, he called it worthless. 

In 2023, at the time of a Senate Banking Committee hearing, he asserted that “I have always been deeply opposed to crypto, Bitcoin, etc, and the sole true case for it is criminals, drug traffickers, money laundering, tax avoidance. If I were in the government, I would have closed it down.”

Last year, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Dimon opined that Bitcoin does nothing and he calls it a pet rock, which came after the asset crossed the $100k mark for the first time. 

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