JPMorgan Allowing All of its Retail Wealth Clients Access to Five Cryptocurrency Products

Banking giant JPMorgan Chase & Co has started to allow all of its wealth management clients access to crypto funds, reported Business Insider on Thursday, citing sources. According to the report, this move applies to all clients looking for investment advice, including ultra-rich, those using its commission-free trading app, and those whose assets are managed by the bank itself. Interestingly, with this move, JPMorgan has become the first major bank to allow its clients access to crypto, while back in 2017, its CEO Jamie Dimon called Bitcoin a “fraud” and threatened to fire its employees who traded the cryptocurrency. Now, the bank has told its financial advisers in a memo earlier this week to take buy and sell orders from its clients for five crypto products, effective July 19. Four of such products are from Grayscale Investments, and one from Osprey Funds, said the report. These funds include Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), Ethereum Trust (ETHE), Bitcoin Cash Trust (BCHG), and Ethereum Classic vehicles (ETCG), along with Osprey Fund’s Bitcoin Trust. Advisors are allowed to execute only “unsolicited” crypto trades and cannot recommend any products. They can only buy and sell on behalf of clients' requests. JPMorgan first shared its plans to offer an actively managed Bitcoin fund to its private clients back in April when BTC price was near its all-time high at around $65,000, which has since fallen and is now trading above $32,450. Just this week, as we reported, JPMorgan Asset & Wealth Management CEO Mary Callahan Erdoes said that most of its clients see digital currencies as an asset class and want to invest in them. In March, Goldman Sachs also said that it was close to offering Bitcoin and other crypto assets to its wealthiest clients.