Despite JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon’s outspoken criticism regarding bitcoin, the bank is considering allowing clients to trade bitcoin futures, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
“J.P. Morgan is considering whether to provide its clients access to CME’s new bitcoin product through its futures-brokerage unit,” a source who asked not to be identified told WSJ.
Earlier this month, CME announced that it would launch a bitcoin futures contract by the end of the year, pending regulatory review.
JPMorgan already allows clients some access to bitcoin through an exchange-traded note, which involves routing their orders to exchanges. Handling trades of bitcoin futures contracts is somewhat similar but could still pose some challenges, according to the WSJ source.
Last month, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon called bitcoin “a fraud” and predicted that governments will eventually crack down on it.
“If you’re stupid enough to buy it, you’ll pay the price for it one day,” Dimon said.
Bitcoin reached a new high of $8,350 on Tuesday, before withdrawing towards $8,000. The tumble is attributed to the hack of the Tether systems.
At press time, bitcoin (BTC) was up 1.89% on the day against the dollar, at $8,232. The cryptocurrency broke the $8,000 mark for the first time on Sunday.
JPMorgan bitcoin futures plans – Image source: Seth Wenig/AP
