JPMorgan to Allow Bitcoin and Ether as Collateral

JPMorgan Chase & Co. plans to allow institutional clients to use their holdings of Bitcoin and Ether as collateral for loans by the end of the year — a significant deepening of Wall Street’s integration of digital assets, Bloomberg News’s Emily Nicolle reported.

With Bitcoin rallying this year and the Trump administration rolling back regulatory hurdles, major banks are starting to integrate digital assets more deeply into their lending systems.

The program, to be offered globally, will rely on a third-party custodian to safeguard pledged tokens, according to people familiar with the matter.

It builds on JPMorgan’s earlier move to accept crypto-linked ETFs as collateral. The expansion underscores how quickly cryptocurrencies are being incorporated into the financial system’s core infrastructure.

With Bitcoin rallying this year and the Trump administration rolling back regulatory hurdles, major banks are starting to integrate digital assets more deeply into their lending systems.

For JPMorgan, the shift is both symbolic and practical: the bank whose CEO, Jamie Dimon, once dismissed Bitcoin as a “hyped-up fraud” or a “pet rock” will now treat it as a legitimate asset class that can secure loans — like stocks, bonds, or gold.

Dimon has recently softened his stance, while remaining skeptical. “I don’t think we should smoke, but I defend your right to smoke,” he said at JPMorgan’s investor conference in May.

“I defend your right to buy Bitcoin — go at it.”