JPMorgan, Wells Fargo Launching Bitcoin Funds, SEC Filings Confirm

Two major financial services companies, JPMorgan and Wells Fargo, are launching bitcoin funds, according to the filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

JPMorgan’s Bitcoin Fund

Global investment bank JPMorgan is launching a bitcoin fund in collaboration with New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG), according to a filing on Thursday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

NYDIG is a bitcoin technology and financial services subsidiary of Stone Ridge, a $10 billion alternative asset manager.

According to the filing, JPMorgan Securities LLC “will receive certain placement and servicing fees with respect to clients it refers to the issuer.” The issuer is “NYDIG Private Bitcoin Fund LP.”

Besides this fund, JPMorgan is offering five other crypto investments to its clients. Four of them are Grayscale Investments’ products: the Bitcoin Trust, Bitcoin Cash Trust, Ethereum Trust, and Ethereum Classic Trust. The fifth is Osprey Funds’ Bitcoin Trust.

Meanwhile, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon has maintained his anti-bitcoin stance. He has publicly advised people to “stay away” from cryptocurrency.

Wells Fargo’s Bitcoin Fund

On the same day, NYDIG also registered with the SEC a bitcoin fund in collaboration with American financial services company Wells Fargo. The issuer is “FS NYDIG Bitcoin Fund I, LP.”

The filing states that Wells Fargo Clearing Services LLC and Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network LLC “will receive certain placement and servicing fees with respect to clients they refer to the issuer.”

Earlier this month, a spokesperson for Wells Fargo reportedly confirmed that the company has started offering cryptocurrency exposure to its wealth management clients.

However, both the filings for JPMorgan’s bitcoin fund and Wells Fargo’s bitcoin fund state that the first sale has yet to occur.