JPMorgan Chase Will Let Customers Buy Bitcoin

“We are going to allow you to buy it,” Dimon said to shareholders, while adding that the bank won’t hold the asset in custody

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) will let clients buy crypto later this year, according to a report by Quartz.

The bank plans to allow clients to trade crypto through a third-party exchange, which will be announced at a later time.

"We are going to allow you to buy it," said JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon to shareholders, while adding that the bank won't hold the asset in custody, according to CoinDesk. The firm didn't immediately respond when contacted by Quartz about its timeframe.

The move is especially surprising considering Dimon's long-held negative views of the leading cryptocurrency.

"Bitcoin itself has no intrinsic value," he said in an interview with CBS News last year, adding that the bank is considering offering its own token.

Dimon's comments come after reports that the bank may be developing a tokenized version of the U.S. dollar.

Last year, Dimon called Bitcoin a "fraud" and "Ponzi scheme" in an interview with Bloomberg.

During his closing remarks on Monday, Dimon reiterated his anti-crypto stance, saying he's still "not a fan" of Bitcoin because of its links to illegal activities.

"They use Bitcoin in North Korea and stuff like that. It's not a fan of that. We have no interest in that and we certainly hope our clients aren't doing that either," he added.

Despite Dimon's hangups, the new endeavor isn't the firm's first move into crypto. Last week, the bank's blockchain platform, Kinexys, conducted a test transaction on a public blockchain for the first time.

Other major banks have also pushed into the crypto space in recent months. In August, Morgan Stanley told CNBC that it's offering clients access to trade bitcoin-linked trusts through third-party custodians.

Meanwhile, Bank of America said in January at Davos that the bank is looking for ways to get more involved in the crypto market. In February, the bank's executives said that the firm could issue its own stablecoin if a legal framework for doing so were to be established.