Decryption of JP Morgan’s crypto investments

Last week during a congressional hearing, JP Morgan Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon described cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin in particular as “decentralized Ponzi schemes.”

But despite Dimon’s longstanding opposition to digital currencies, the bank he runs has a history of dabbling in crypto.

Starting last year, JP Morgan allowed its private clients to buy Bitcoin and other cryptos from a select number of funds, namely Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, Grayscale Bitcoin Cash Trust, Grayscale Ethereum Trust, Grayscale Ethereum Classic Trust and Osprey Bitcoin Trust.

This was at the time the bank was building a small stake in Coinbase. According to the annual report, it had built a small position in the US-based exchange by June last year. Its US Growth Fund owned 3,025 Coinbase sharesvalued at $758,247, which is 0.04% of the fund.

It also held 44,900 Coinbase shares, valued at $11,254,634 in the US Technology Fund, and also owned Coinbase 0.5% bond coupons due 2026 in the Multi-Manager Alternatives Fund. In total, it had $15,448,631 invested in Coinbase.

In December 2021, JP Morgan had slightly reduced its Coinbase holdings.

• The bank had 525 shares, valued at $118,986 and comprises 0.02% of the Global Research Enhanced Index Equity Fund.
• It had 45,800 shares valued at $11,774,951, which represents 0.17% of the US technology fund.
• The company also sold its 3,025 shares in its US growth fund.

During this time, the company also added several bonds to the treasury. Specifically, $235,000 worth of Coinbase bond coupons for the Global Bond Opportunities Sustainable Fund, $385,000 of the same type of bond coupons for the Global Strategic Bond Fund, another $1,228,000 for the revenue fundand $80,000 worth of coupons for the US High Yield Plus Bond Fund.

In total, as of December 2021, JP Morgan’s funds held $18,189,467 in Coinbase stocks and bonds.

Then, by June of this year, the company sold all of its Coinbase shares — presumably at a loss, given that Coinbase shares have been falling since the beginning of the year. However, it is kept some Coinbase bonds.

In total, at the end of June, the company’s fund held $9,490,094 in Coinbase bonds that it had purchased for a total of $16,274,000. However, that number pales in comparison to the firm’s total net assets under management of $55 billion.

Read more: ConsenSys lawsuit reveals JPMorgan owns critical Ethereum infrastructure

JP Morgan also engages in private crypto investments

JP Morgan also has a number of private investments in the crypto industry, such as its stake in crypto analytics firm TRM Labs. It has too some tenants from the crypto industry in its real estate portfolioincluding Coin Cloud which leases a property from JP Morgan’s Moonwater Office Portfolio Properties.

However, the bank may have hidden the extent of its involvement in the private investment part of the crypto industry. Lately, it has been accused by ConsenSys shareholders of owning a share of the intellectual property rights of MetaMask and Infura that were exchanged by ConsenSys CEO and founder Joseph Lubin in exchange for a $39 million loan.

JP Morgan is not actively involved in crypto as much as Morgan Stanley, but it does not shy away from dipping its toes into the market and certainly doesn’t seem keen on refusing money from the industry.

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