JPMorgan Is Preparing to Offer a Bitcoin Fund to Wealthy Clients

NEW YORK (Capital Markets in Africa) — JPMorgan Chase & Co. is preparing to offer a Bitcoin fund to wealthy clients, the latest sign that Wall Street is warming to the largest cryptocurrency after it soared in recent months.

The actively managed fund will be available as soon as this summer, CoinDesk reported Monday, citing sources familiar with the plans. NYDIG will be the custody provider, a person with knowledge of the situation said, asking not to be identified because the decision hasn’t been made public.

Spokespeople for JPMorgan and NYDIG declined to comment.

Bitcoin rose as much as 12% Monday morning to trade at almost $54,000, the biggest intraday gain since early February.

Wall Street banks are grappling with whether to offer clients exposure to cyptocurrencies after staying mostly on the sidelines as Bitcoin and other tokens surged in popularity. JPMorgan has been taking some of the biggest strides, adding Bitcoin exchanges Coinbase Inc. and Gemini Trust Co. as banking clients last year. The firm also turned to crypto to help speed up corporate payments, launching JPM Coin in 2019.

JPMorgan co-President Daniel Pinto said last week that the firm will “accompany the clients” when it comes to Bitcoin. The biggest U.S. bank joins Morgan Stanley in planning to offer rich clients access to funds that enable ownership of Bitcoin.