JPMorgan Chase’s decision to let clients buy Bitcoin without the bank’s custody marks the end of a strategy that crypto investor Armando Pantoja insists he saw coming for years.

JPMorgan Chase’s decision to let clients buy Bitcoin without the bank’s custody marks the end of a strategy that crypto investor Armando Pantoja insists

JPMorgan Chase & Co has finally opened the door for clients to buy Bitcoin (BTC) without the bank's custody, marking the end of a strategy that crypto investor Armando Pantoja insists he saw coming for years.

"I didn't believe Jamie Dimon really believed what he was saying. It was a tactic to keep the average person away from it to keep the prices down," said Pantoja when asked about the bank's recent move.

According to Pantoja, banks as a group "were caught off guard with cryptocurrency. They dismissed it from 2009 into 2018." Institutions, he added, "are like cruise ships - they take a long time to turn around."

As they maneuvered, the best way to accumulate Bitcoin cheaply was to frighten retail investors, he argued.

"We know that they're capable of quickly shifting the market narrative. For example, in December 2017, the U.S. government permitted Bitcoin shorting through derivatives, which led to a dramatic price decline," said Pantoja.

Those moves, he said, helped drive Bitcoin from nearly $20,000 to about $3,000 in 2018, giving big buyers time to build positions. "All the while, JPMorgan created their own coin," Pantoja noted, claiming the bank was "buying Bitcoin behind the scenes" even as Dimon publicly called the asset a "fraud."

In Pantoja's view, the same dynamic resurfaced in 2020-21. After Bitcoin slid again to roughly $3,000 in early 2020, banks resumed public skepticism even as they quietly built out their crypto capabilities.

"The network of advisors that JPMorgan has were told not to advise any of the clients to invest in Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, further suppressing retail demand until the bank had amassed its positions," Pantoja added.

This approach, he said, allowed banks "to acquire all of these things at a reasonable price."

Now, with JPMorgan opening the door to client purchases without custody, Pantoja believes the bank and its peers have secured the control they wanted. "They would allow people to start purchasing it once they were the controllers and the brokers of cryptocurrency."