JP Morgan Chase announces plans to support Bitcoin
2 min readTL;DR Breakdown
- JP Morgan Chase bank to begin crypto services soon.
- CEO Jamie Dimon had previously been skeptical about Bitcoin.
Popular investment Bank JP Morgan Chase has confirmed that it would initiate the provision of crypto services for its customers very soon. This announcement comes as several other banks globally consider supporting cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin and other altcoins’ recent price surge has made more investors interested in investing in cryptocurrency as an asset and a store of value for the long term. In an interview with financial journalist Hugh Son, JP Morgan Chase co-president Daniel Pinto said that it is only a matter of time before the bank kick-off providing crypto services. According to Pinto, there is not enough demand for crypto to launch the service immediately.
“If over time an asset class develops that will be used by different asset managers and investors, we will have to be involved. The demand isn’t there yet, but I’m sure it will be at some point,” Pinto said.
JP Morgan crypto support an Irony
Considering JP Morgan Chase’s frosty relationship with Bitcoin in the past, the fact that the bank is ready to support cryptocurrency now appears to be an irony. In September 2017, the bank’s CEO Jamie Dimon called Bitcoin a ‘fraud’. He compared the number one cryptocurrency to “tulip mania” and said BTC would collapse. Back then, the price of BTC was only $3,500. After the bull run in 2017, BTC hit $19,000.
In November 2020, after Bitcoin market capitalization rose above JP Morgan’s market cap, the Bank CEO remained skeptical about crypto. He said Bitcoin is not his kind of asset. Although the CEO has not made any recent comment about Bitcoin, the bank president has said they would begin to provide crypto services soon.
Several firms ready to go crypto
Apart from the American investment bank, many other firms are also declaring support for Bitcoin openly.
The number of retail traders has increased, politicians are contemplating investing in Bitcoin to diversify public holdings, companies like Tesla and PayPal have announced major moves, and even banks are planning to take their first steps as regards offering cryptocurrency services. Mastercard also announced recently that they would embark on enabling crypto payment before the end of year 2021.
