JPMorgan Chase & Co. will allow institutional clients to use their Bitcoin and Ethereum holdings as collateral for loans until the end of 2025. The coins will be held by a third-party custodian for this purpose.
Until now, JPMorgan had only accepted crypto-related securities such as spot Bitcoin ETFs as collateral. The bank is now taking a step further by allowing Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) to be pledged directly as loan collateral – globally and not just in isolated cases. This move recognizes digital assets not only as investments but also as instruments of institutional financing.
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Implementation details and framework
According to Bloomberg, institutional clients will be able to pledge their Bitcoin or Ethereum holdings to JPMorgan no later than the end of 2025. The collateral will be held by an external custodian to mitigate regulatory and operational risk. The bank is building on its previous practice of accepting spot Bitcoin ETFs – such as IBIT (BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust) – as collateral.
Furthermore, JPMorgan is expected to start including crypto holdings not only as collateral but also as part of clients’ overall asset valuations – similar to stocks, real estate, or luxury goods.
Strategic significance and market impact
The announcement shows that one of the largest U.S. banks no longer views cryptocurrencies as purely speculative assets but as legitimate financial instruments. For institutional investors, this means that capital constraints can now be bridged by pledging crypto holdings without having to liquidate them. At the same time, the move signals growing willingness among major financial institutions to integrate crypto assets into their operations and lending businesses.
JPMorgan currently manages over 3.8 trillion USD in assets, making it the largest bank in the United States. The new program allowing Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) to be used as loan collateral will be implemented through JPMorgan’s existing Onyx blockchain infrastructure, which is already used for interbank transactions. The crypto custody solution will be provided by Fidelity Digital Assets and Anchorage Digital, acting as independent third-party custodians securing the pledged coins. According to Bloomberg, the pilot project began in September 2025 with a test volume of approximately 250 million USD, with official rollout scheduled for the first quarter of 2026. The framework is based on the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) guidelines updated in 2025, which for the first time explicitly permit digital assets to serve as collateralized loan instruments.
