Blackrock, the world’s largest asset manager, has named JPMorgan as a lead authorized participant for its spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). This followed JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon stating in a congressional hearing that bitcoin and cryptocurrency are used primarily for criminal purposes and that he would close down crypto if he were the government.
JPMorgan Named Authorized Participant by Blackrock for Spot Bitcoin ETF
On the final day of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s deadline, Blackrock, the world’s largest asset manager, submitted an updated filing for its spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). The SEC gave spot bitcoin ETF applicants until Friday to submit their amended filings in order to be included in the first batch of decisions in early January. Moreover, the securities regulator reportedly said it wants authorized participants (APs) named in amended filings.
Blackrock’s latest amended filing shows that it has named JPMorgan and Jane Street as the authorized participants for its spot bitcoin ETF. However, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon recently said at a Senate hearing in reply to a question by Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) that he would shut down cryptocurrency if he were the government, emphasizing that bitcoin and crypto are mainly used for criminal purposes.
Commenting on JPMorgan’s agreement with Blackrock despite Dimon’s negative stance on crypto, Vaneck’s director of digital assets strategy, Gabor Gurbacs, stated on social media platform X Friday:
3 weeks after JP Morgan CEO says bitcoin is for criminals, drug traffickers, and money launderers in front of Congress, his firm is named authorized participant for the Blackrock bitcoin ETF … perhaps it’s time to retract that statement?
Many people on social media shared the sentiment. Zerohedge wrote on X: Jamie Dimon, who ‘hates’ bitcoin, will be broker-dealer on the bitcoin ETF of the world’s biggest asset manager.” In another post, the user wrote: “Dear Senator Elizabeth Warren, Jamie Dimon is ‘on it’: he will be lead AP on the Blackrock and Invesco bitcoin ETFs, accelerating global adoption of crypto, and lifting the value of the product that ‘he’s always been opposed to’ into the trillions.”
According to their updated filing with the SEC, Invesco/Galaxy also named JPMorgan as an authorized participant for their proposed spot bitcoin ETF.
Besides Blackrock, several other spot bitcoin ETF applicants — including Vaneck, Valkyrie, Bitwise, Invesco/Galaxy, Fidelity, Wisdomtree, and the Ark Investments and 21shares joint endeavor — also submitted their amended filings with the SEC on Friday, aiming to be considered in the initial wave of spot bitcoin ETF decisions.
While many are bullish that spot bitcoin ETF approvals would boost the price of BTC, JPMorgan’s analysts are skeptical. They said in a November note that spot bitcoin ETFs could put “severe downward pressure on bitcoin’s price.” Meanwhile, Blackrock disclosed in a filing last week a plan to seed its spot bitcoin ETF with $10 million on Jan. 3.
What do you think about Blackrock naming JPMorgan as an authorized participant for its spot bitcoin ETF despite Jamie Dimon wanting to shut down crypto? Let us know in the comments section below.
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