JPMorgan is moving into crypto trading, but they’re not ready to hold client digital assets yet. Scott Lucas, the bank’s global head of markets and digital assets, said on CNBC Monday that crypto trading services are in development while custody remains off the table for now.
Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan’s CEO, used to trash crypto constantly but flipped his stance in August, saying he became a believer in stablecoins. That shift appears to be pushing the bank to get more involved in the space. Lucas said trading is definitely happening, but custody would only come after they figure out their risk tolerance.
The bank’s taking what Lucas called an “and” approach, meaning they’re exploring multiple opportunities rather than betting everything on one thing. They’re working with Coinbase, launched their deposit token JPMD on the Ethereum layer 2 Base network, and they’re keeping an eye on stablecoins for client demand.
Lucas made it clear JPMorgan doesn’t think one blockchain like Ethereum will dominate everything. They expect multiple layer 1 blockchains to coexist, and they’re planning to jump into different networks over the next few quarters. The bank’s basically positioning itself to participate across the entire blockchain ecosystem instead of putting all eggs in one basket.
Right now they’re exploring what the right custodians would look like for their business rather than holding crypto directly themselves.
Conclusion
JPMorgan is developing crypto trading services while declining a custody role, planning a multi-blockchain strategy with the Coinbase partnership, and exploring stablecoin amid the CEO’s recent crypto conversion.
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