JPMorgan Chase is set to allow institutional clients use bitcoin and ether holdings as collateral for loans by the end of the year, according to Bloomberg.
The plan would build on an earlier decision from the bank to accept crypto-linked ETFs as loan collateral.
Tokens would be held by a third-party custodian, allowing JPMorgan to manage counterparty exposure and operational risk, says Bloomberg.
The initiative is likely to be global and apply to credit lines and structured financing products.
Like much of Wall Street, JPMorgan has been embracing a crypto sector that CEO Jamie Dimon' once said he would shut down.
In 2023, Dimon told a Senate Banking Committee: “I’ve always been deeply opposed to crypto, bitcoin, etc. The only true use case for it is criminals, drug traffickers...money laundering, tax avoidance.”
However, by this May he had modified his position, promising to let clients buy Bitcoin, telling investors: “I don’t think you should smoke, but I defend your right to smoke. I defend your right to buy bitcoin.”
Since then, Chase has moved to let customers directly link their accounts to Coinbase wallets, making it easier than ever for huge swathes of Americans to buy crypto.