- JPMorgan is said to be close to launching a Bitcoin fund
- The news emphasizes the change in attitude since it was labeled a “scam” by CEO Jamie Dimon in 2017
- How has the relationship between JPMorgan and Bitcoin changed over the years?
The news that JPMorgan is preparing to offer a managed Bitcoin fund has seen the bank come full circle on the digital currency, whose CEO previously labeled Bitcoin a “scam” and a “fraud”. We look back at how the relationship between JPMorgan and Bitcoin over the years.
September 2016 – A US judge rules that “Bitcoins are funds” during a court case in which a 2014 hack on JPMorgan, which saw 83 million user records stolen, was paramount. The defendant eventually pleaded guilty to operating an illegal Bitcoin exchange.
September 2017 – JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon labels Bitcoin “a fraud” and says he would fire any employee caught trading it.
August 2018 – Dimon reasserts that Bitcoin is a “scam”.
October 2018 – Dimon says he doesn’t “really give a shit” about Bitcoin on its tenth birthday.
December 2018 – a JPMorgan analyst warns that “participation by financial institutions in bitcoin trading appears to be fading”
February 2019 – JPMorgan claims that Bitcoin’s true value is $2,400, despite having a market value of $3,750 at the time.
February 2019 – JPMorgan announces its own cryptocurrency, JPMCoin.
June 2019 – JPMorgan hires a digital currency expert to assess the merits of digital asset trading within the bank.
June 2020 – a JPMorgan report claims that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies passed their first “stress test” after the March crash, and that Bitcoin did not diverge from its “intrinsic levels”.
October 2020 – a JPMorgan investor note proclaims Bitcoin’s “considerable” long term upside, saying it could compete “more intensely” with gold in the future.
December 2020 – a JPMorgan analyst states that institutions such as pension funds and insurance companies may buy into Bitcoin “over the coming years”.
January 2021 – a JPMorgan investor note claims that Bitcoin can hit $146,000 in the long term as part of a “multi-year process”
February 2021 – JPMorgan stategists claim that investors may end up putting 1% of their portfolios into Bitcoin.
March 2021 – JPMorgan files for a “cryptocurrency basket” to allow certain customers access to crypto-holding and crypto-related companies.
April 2021 – a JPMorgan Bitcoin fund is allegedly close to launch, allowing clients to invest in Bitcoin for the first time.
JPMorgan About Face The First of Many?
JPMorgan’s change of heart on Bitcoin is as unexpected as it is welcome, but with several global banks still being anti-Bitcoin there is still clearly a way to go before Bitcoin enjoys mainstream acceptance.
