The US bank is part of a trend of making cryptocurrencies - which some prefer to call digital assets - part of the investment and financial mainstream.

Less than five years after saying that he would sack any JP Morgan employee for trading bitcoin, CEO Jamie Dimon’s bank is setting up an actively managed bitcoin fund for high net worth clients, reports say. The move adds to a trend of the digital assets market becoming mainstream.

CoinDesk, a hub for data and reports on the world of cryptocurrencies, said the US banking giant could launch the fund as soon as the summer, adding that the New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG) would be the custodian for JP Morgan’s venture.

Reports said that a JP Morgan fund would differ from existing offerings by Pantera Capital and Galaxy Digital, which let wealthy clients buy and hold bitcoin without ever actually handling it. Galaxy and NYDig already offer bitcoin funds to Morgan Stanley clients (source: CoinDesk).

A range of banks and financial groups such as BNY Mellon, Morgan Stanley, Switzerland’s Bordier & Cie, Zurich-listed Julius Baer and New York’s Guggenheim Partners offer various ways for clients to tap into cryptocurrency. In early April last year bitcoin fetched about $6,500 and the price has skyrocketed ten times over the past year, although it has wobbled over the past week. As of publication, it fetched $54,700. 

This news service’s sister news service, Family Wealth Report, has a fintech summit (4-6 May) and it will include a segment on digital assets and how wealth managers should address this space. (To register for a complimentary pass, leave your details here.)