JPMorgan Chase, one of the leading investment banks in the world, has begun pitching an in-house Bitcoin fund to its wealthy clients. The Bitcoin Fund in-house and wealthy clients can start accessing it this week.
According to CoinDesk, the passively managed fund doesn’t have any investments from clients yet, according to two people familiar with the matter. That might quickly change as the bank informed all the advisers only yesterday through a launch call. JPMorgan declined to comment. JPMorgan offered the Bitcoin fund in partnership with the NYDIG, which is the bitcoin arm of asset-management firm Stone Ridge.
The news also comes just two weeks after JPMorgan started offering crypto funds to wealthy retail clients. JPMorgan would start granting its wealthy clients access to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies via funds such as Grayscale Bitcoin Trust.
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon has repeatedly said that clients want stuff, and therefore JPMorgan has the responsibility to deliver it safely.
“I am not a Bitcoin supporter, I don’t really care about Bitcoin,” Dimon told the Wall Street Journal in May. He further added “On the other hand, clients are interested, and I don’t tell clients what to do”
JPMorgan does not currently have a bitcoin ETF bid before SEC, but nearly a dozen other firms do. NYDIG has also filed for a bitcoin ETF application, which the SEC has to start reviewing.
At present, all of JPMorgan’s wealth management clients have access to bitcoin funds such as GBTC through its brokerage account. However, it is only available for JPMorgan Private Bank customers.
