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- JPMorgan will allow institutional clients to use Bitcoin and Ethereum as collateral for loans, expanding on the bank’s earlier acceptance of crypto-linked ETFs.
- The change coincides with rising demand for crypto assets and a more favorable regulatory tone from the Trump administration.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is preparing to launch a program by the end of 2025 that will allow institutional clients to use their Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) holdings as collateral for loans. The program, which will operate globally, represents an expansion of JPMorgan’s engagement with crypto, following its earlier move in June to permit limited access to crypto-linked ETFs for select clients.
Since the approval of Bitcoin ETFs in January 2024, the sector has seen growth, with BTC spot ETFs amassing nearly $62 billion in net inflows and $149 billion in total assets.
To ensure security and regulatory compliance, JPMorgan will partner with a third-party custodian to hold and manage the pledged BTC and ETH, keeping these assets separate from the bank’s own balance sheet.
This structure provides institutional clients with a way to borrow against their crypto holdings without liquidating them, allowing investors to unlock capital while maintaining long-term exposure to digital assets.
The move marks a notable shift in tone for JPMorgan’s leadership. CEO Jamie Dimon, once a vocal critic who dismissed Bitcoin as a “hyped-up fraud” and a “pet rock,” has softened his stance as digital assets gain legitimacy.
Institutional Interest Increases
Financial powerhouses like Fidelity are expanding their digital asset offerings, while Morgan Stanley is preparing to integrate cryptocurrency trading into its E-Trade platform in the first half of 2026 through a partnership with ZeroHash.
In addition, Morgan Stanley’s October Global Investment Committee (GIC) report revealed that the bank will begin supporting its network of financial advisors in allocating client portfolios to Bitcoin and other digital assets.
Other banks are also racing to build the infrastructure needed for large-scale institutional participation. BNY Mellon and State Street have launched tokenization, custody, and fund-servicing platforms designed to help institutions securely engage with digital assets. Citibank, for its part, plans to debut its cryptocurrency custody services in 2026, offering secure storage for private keys that provide access to assets such as BTC and ETH.
The industry’s momentum extends well beyond the U.S. CNF recently revealed in a report that several banks, including Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas, Santander, Barclays, TD Bank, MUFG, UBS, and Citi, are collaborating on the development of a stablecoin backed by G7 currencies.
This comes as stablecoins gain widespread acceptance across global finance, with their market capitalization surpassing $300 billion for the first time earlier this month. Tether’s USDT continues to dominate the market, holding a commanding 58% share with a capitalization of approximately $176 billion.
The Trump administration has fostered a more supportive environment for this growth by having clearer regulations and scaling back some of the restrictions imposed under former President Joe Biden.
For instance, the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act (GENIUS Act), a legislation designed to create a structured framework for stablecoin issuance, gave traditional financial institutions more confidence.
Leading crypto executives, including Brian Armstrong of Coinbase, Sergey Nazarov of Chainlink, Mike Novogratz of Galaxy Digital, David Ripley of Kraken, Hayden Adams of Uniswap, and Rebecca Rettig, Chief Legal Officer at Ripple, recently met with Senate Democrats for a roundtable discussion on upcoming digital-asset legislation.
