JPMorgan to accept Bitcoin and Ether as collateral for loans
JPMorgan plans to let institutional clients use Bitcoin and Ether as collateral for loans by the end of 2025. The bank will rely on a third-party custodian to safeguard pledged tokens, and the offering will be available globally.
The program extends JPMorgan’s collateral framework after it began taking crypto-linked ETFs against credit earlier this year. The new arrangement applies to spot BTC and ETH held at an approved custodian, which will be connected to JPMorgan’s margin and risk systems so collateral can be monitored and liquidated under standard credit procedures.
People briefed on the plan said the bank is responding to client demand following a year of active trading and financing in digital-asset markets. Reports in July said JPMorgan had been evaluating direct crypto-backed lending; the new timeline points to a year-end launch, subject to internal controls and custody integrations.
People briefed on the plan said the bank is responding to client demand following a year of active trading and financing in digital-asset markets. Reports in July said JPMorgan had been evaluating direct crypto-backed lending; the new timeline points to a year-end launch, subject to internal controls and custody integrations.
Peers are moving in parallel. Morgan Stanley has said its E*Trade platform will add crypto trading in the first half of 2026 through a Zerohash tie-up, broadening access to spot assets in brokerage accounts. Large custodians and asset managers have also scaled crypto services around ETFs and institutional storage, building the pipes that banks can reference for collateral and settlement.
Since July 2025, JPMorgan has been weighing loans backed directly by clients’ crypto holdings, laying the groundwork for today’s broader collateral plan. In Europe, Deutsche Börse’s Clearstream has rolled out Bitcoin and Ether custody and settlement services for institutions, complementing moves by U.S. custodians to formalize digital-asset operations at scale.
In the U.S., the Securities and Exchange Commission approved in-kind creations and redemptions for crypto ETPs in late July, allowing authorized participants to deliver and receive Bitcoin or Ether directly rather than routing through cash. Banks and prime brokers say the in-kind path reduces slippage and operational frictions around ETF liquidity and may make collateral workflows cleaner when ETFs sit alongside spot holdings.
Since July 2025, JPMorgan has been weighing loans backed directly by clients’ crypto holdings, laying the groundwork for today’s broader collateral plan. In Europe, Deutsche Börse’s Clearstream has rolled out Bitcoin and Ether custody and settlement services for institutions, complementing moves by U.S. custodians to formalize digital-asset operations at scale.
In the U.S., the Securities and Exchange Commission approved in-kind creations and redemptions for crypto ETPs in late July, allowing authorized participants to deliver and receive Bitcoin or Ether directly rather than routing through cash. Banks and prime brokers say the in-kind path reduces slippage and operational frictions around ETF liquidity and may make collateral workflows cleaner when ETFs sit alongside spot holdings.
Author
Sebile Fane cut her teeth in blockchain by building tiny NFT experiments with friends in her living room, long before the buzzwords took hold. She’s driven by a curiosity for the human stories behind smart contracts — whether it’s a small-town artist minting her first token or a DAO voting on climate grants — and weaves technical insight with genuine empathy.
