JPMorgan Chase, the largest US bank, will soon allow clients to buy bitcoin — despite CEO Jamie Dimon’s persistent criticism of the world’s largest cryptocurrency.
Dimon, 69, announced the major U-turn at the bank’s annual investor day on Monday, where speculation continued to swirl over the future of the veteran banker, who has been in the top job for nearly two decades.
“We are going to allow you to buy it,” Dimon told investors. “We’re not going to custody it. We’re going to put it in statements for clients.”
Dimon has long been a vocal skeptic of bitcoin, citing risks like money laundering, and unclear ownership. The Queens native once called the coin “worthless” in 2021 and a “pet rock” that “does nothing” in a CNBC interview in Davos last year.
He even suggested in a 2023 Senate testimony that the government should close it down over fears it is linked to a string of criminal activities.
Meanwhile, crosstown rival Morgan Stanley became the first major bank in the United States to allow its customers to buy coins in August 2024, with its CEO Ted Pick vowing to deepen its involvement in crypto.
JPMorgan’s shift comes as the Trump administration adopts a more crypto-friendly regulatory environment following four years of the Gary Gensler-led SEC launching legal battles against a string of digital asset firms.
JPMorgan’s succession plan was also under the microscope on Monday after calls from top Wall Street analyst Mike Mayo of Wells Fargo for Dimon to rethink his plans to step down.
Dimon reiterated that he has plans to remain as executive chairman of JPMorgan’s board for a time after stepping down from his CEO role.
“Obviously, it’s up to the board. If I’m here for four more years and maybe two more, three as executive chair. That’s a long time. That’s like a lot of the present value of the world,” he told investors.
Dimon had said at JPMorgan’s previous investor day last May that his succession timeline was not five years anymore, leading to an immediate decline in the stock price.
Speculation over who should take over peaked around the US presidential election last year, since Dimon was floated as a potential Treasury secretary candidate.
Four names are considered to be in the frame: Marianne Lake, the company’s head of Consumer & Community Banking, co-CEOs of JPMorgan’s investment banking operations, Doug Petno and Troy Rohrbaugh, and Mary Erdoes, who leads its asset and wealth management unit.
A veteran of more than three decades at JPMorgan, chief operating officer Jennifer Piepszak was one of the frontrunners to succeed Dimon until she withdrew from the competition in January, insisting she did not want the top job.
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