JPMorgan, the largest US bank, is currently reviewing how its markets division can handle crypto products, including spot trades and derivatives, according to Bloomberg, which claims that the work is still early, the plans are not public, and nothing is live yet.
The push is driven by client requests that picked up pace after Donald Trump returned to the White House in January and installed crypto-friendly regulators and passed new stablecoin rules.
Earlier this month, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said U.S. banks are allowed to act as intermediaries in crypto markets.
JPMorgan weighs trading products as regulation opens doors
According to Bloomberg, if the bank’s clients want size and liquidity, the trading desk could scale, but if not, the project stays on paper.
JPMorgan has spent years building blockchain infrastructure while avoiding direct crypto trading, but that line is now blurring, as it recently arranged the creation, distribution, and settlement of a short-term bond for Galaxy Digital Holdings LP on the Solana blockchain.
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon once mocked Bitcoin as a “pet rock.” At the bank’s May investor conference, Jamie took a more direct stance on client choice. “I don’t think you should smoke, but I defend your right to smoke,” Jamie said. “I defend your right to buy Bitcoin. Go at it.” The comment reflected a policy of access, not endorsement.
Meanwhile, JPMorgan’s peer Standard Chartered launched spot Bitcoin and Ether trading for institutions through its UK branch earlier this year. Intesa Sanpaolo SpA, Italy’s largest bank, made its first Bitcoin purchase, spending about €1 million, or $1.2 million, through its own digital trading desk.
On Wall Street, Goldman Sachs has been running a crypto derivatives desk for four years now, and BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, has $68 billion in its Bitcoin exchange-traded fund, which launched in 2024.
Earlier this year, Standard Chartered launched a trading service for institutional clients in spot Bitcoin and Ether through its UK branch, while Italy’s largest banking group, Intesa Sanpaolo SpA, made its first Bitcoin purchase, buying roughly 1 million euros ($1.2 million) worth of the original cryptocurrency through its proprietary digital assets trading desk.
Bitcoin ended the year under pressure, falling about 29% from a record $126,251 in early October. At press time, it was trading near $89,285.
Outside the U.S., crypto rules already operate in the European Union, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates. In Washington, lawmakers are still working on legislation to set the structure of U.S. crypto markets. Trump has yet to officially sign any bill into law.
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