JPMorgan could make its first bitcoin fund available to private rich clients as soon as this summer, report says

• JPMorgan is preparing to roll out its first bitcoin fund for wealthy clients, according to CoinDesk.
• The fund, set to launch this summer, is said to be an actively-managed one.
• The bank recently said liquidity in the bitcoin market should recover quickly after its price drop.

JPMorgan is in the process of offering an actively-managed bitcoin fund to its private wealth clients for the first time, CoinDesk reported on Monday.

The fund could roll out as soon as the summer of 2021, the report said, citing two sources. Crypto-focused financial services company NYDIG is said to serve as the bank's custody provider.

An actively-managed fund implies that money managers would supervise specific decisions about how the fund's investments are carried out. Passively-managed funds, like those offered by Pantera Capital and Galaxy Digital, simply track a crypto market index without being touched by a money management team.

JPMorgan, the largest US investment bank by assets, has gradually shifted its stance on cryptocurrencies after labelling them as fraudulent four years ago.

CEO Jamie Dimon said in a 2018 interview he doesn't "really give a s--t" about the digital asset and didn't expect it to rival fiat currency. More recently, he listed fintechs as one of the "enormous competitive" threats to banks in an annual shareholder letter released this month.

The bank now frequently publishes research reports about bitcoin, and said last week the worst of the recent liquidation have likely passed. "Bitcoin liquidity is likely to remain robust and resilient; depth on major exchanges has continued to drop less and recover faster than other asset classes," JPMorgan strategists said in a note.

Bitcoin rose 10% on Monday to trade near $53,000 after tumbling to its lowest level in nearly two months.

JPMorgan declined to comment on the report when contacted by Insider.