JPMorgan’s planning to let big institutional clients use their Bitcoin and Ethereum holdings as collateral for loans by the end of this year. This is a pretty massive shift for a bank whose CEO, Jamie Dimon, used to call Bitcoin a “hyped-up fraud” and a “pet rock.”
The program will work globally and use a third-party custodian to hold the crypto tokens safely. It’s building on JPMorgan’s earlier move to accept crypto ETFs as collateral, but this takes things way further.
What makes this wild is how fast crypto is getting integrated into the core financial system. Bitcoin’s been rallying in 2025, and the Trump administration rolled back a bunch of regulatory barriers, so major banks are finally treating digital assets like legitimate collateral, the same way they’d accept stocks, bonds, or gold.
Dimon’s softened his stance a bit lately. At an investor conference in May, he said, “I don’t think we should smoke, but I defend your right to smoke. I defend your right to buy Bitcoin; go at it.” Still skeptical, but at least acknowledging people want it.
JPMorgan’s not alone either. Morgan Stanley, State Street, Bank of New York Mellon, and Fidelity are all jumping into crypto services. Morgan Stanley’s even launching crypto access for retail customers on E*Trade in early 2026.
JPMorgan actually explored Bitcoin lending back in 2022 but shelved it. Now with regulations easing and client demand skyrocketing, they’re bringing it back.
Conclusion
JPMorgan plans to accept Bitcoin and Ethereum as loan collateral for institutional clients by year-end, marking a major crypto integration shift despite CEO Dimon’s historical skepticism.
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