Banking giant will accept Bitcoin and Ethereum collateral in loans as the asset class becomes more integrated with traditional finance.
By the end of 2025, JPMorgan Chase & Co. will allow its institutional clients to pledge their crypto holdings to secure loans, Bloomberg reported Friday. The programme will be rolled out globally and use a third party-custodian.
Bitcoin surged 2% on the news, climbing back above $110,000, while Ether jumped 3% to nearly $4,000.
The move expands on JPMorgan’s June decision to start accepting Bitcoin ETFs as collateral, particularly BlackRock’s IBIT fund.
But accepting crypto as collateral is different. It means JPMorgan believes it can manage the risk of Bitcoin and Ethereum’s volatility well enough to lend against them — even if executives remain sceptical about crypto’s long-term value.
More importantly, it signals institutional investors have been pushing JPMorgan for even more crypto products.
Still, the irony is thick.
In the past, Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan’s CEO, has famously called Bitcoin a “hyped-up fraud” and a “pet rock.” He even told Congress that “If I were the government, I’d shut it down.”
Now his bank will treat it like stocks, bonds, and gold.
Moreover, Dimon has softened his rhetoric while maintaining a degree of scepticism.
At JPMorgan’s investor conference in May, he compared Bitcoin to cigarettes: “I don’t think we should smoke, but I defend your right to smoke. I defend your right to buy Bitcoin.”
Although that’s hardly a ringing endorsement, it’s still a big step forward from calling it fraud.
JPMorgan, which manages around $4.5 trillion, isn’t alone in deepening its ties with crypto.
In fact, a plethora of big banks has also been planning to offer crypto products across the board.
Morgan Stanley aims to offer retail crypto trading through E*Trade in early 2026. State Street, Bank of New York Mellon, and Fidelity are all building custody businesses.
Most of that comes from a friendlier regulatory environment. The Trump administration ended Biden’s crypto crackdown, and Congress is advancing legislation to regulate the industry.
Pedro Solimano is DL News’ Buenos Aires-based markets correspondent. Got a tip? Email him at psolimano@dlnews.com.