JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon has been a long term crypto critic and now he is being called out by the crypto community on X after being named an authorized participant (AP) by BlackRock, which dropped its updated Form S-1 filing on Dec. 29. The news broke when Eric Balchunas posted a screen shot on X which got this conversation started.
For those that don't know, an authorized participant (AP) is an organization with the right to create and redeem shares of an exchange-traded fund (ETF). BlackRock’s updated filing named Jane Street and JPMorgan Securities as the “APs” in its proposed spot Bitcoin ETF application.
I found this truly funny as it was only in early Dec. that Dimon told several U.S. lawmakers that if he had the authority in government, he would try to shut down crypto, claiming Bitcoin and cryptocurrency’s “only true use case” is to facilitate crime. The hypocrisy of JPMorgan as an authorized participant in BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF is unbelievable.
[source](https://qz.com/banking-adversaries-elizabeth-warren-and-jamie-dimon-ha-1851079753
I just don't get how JPMorgan plans to be a serious AP after telling Congress and Elizabeth Warren that crypto is only used to facilitate crime. Maybe JPM is trying to let us in on their criminal business enterprise! So now the question is whether this was an attempt to mislead the public or engage in gaslighting.
JPMorgan has been likely be engaging in both tactics as they have already launched its crypto token, JPM Coin on a private version of the Ethereum blockchain for its institutional client base.They also rolled out a blockchain-based tokenization platform in October, with BlackRock as one of its clients. It also contributed to a $65 million funding round for Ethereum infrastructure firm back in April 2021.
They are only concerned with making money and it goes to show you they are willing to say one thing publicly, but act in their own interest in private. I'd love to know what they actually think about crypto vs. making assumptions based on their actions.