Wall Street Embrace of Crypto Grows Closer as Employees Argue on Its Behalf: CNBC

Wall Street giants are facing increased pressure from their own employees about accepting bitcoin as a legitimate asset class, CNBC reported Friday.

• Joining a Zoom call with thousands of JPMorgan Chase traders in January, co-President Daniel Pinto suggested he was open-minded about the cryptocurrency, CNBC said, citing people with knowledge of the call.
• Pinto was responding to global markets head Troy Rohrbaugh acknowledging that the bank’s own employees are increasingly asking when it will get involved in cryptocurrency.
• When subsequently clarifying his comments, Pinto iterated that the decision would be based on demand from clients.
• “The demand isn’t there yet, but I’m sure it will be at some point,” he said to CNBC.
• This news emerges hot on the heels of Goldman Sachs hosting a private forum with Mike Novogratz on Feb. 2, in which the founder of institutional crypto investment firm Galaxy Digital discussed bitcoin, ethereum and more, CNBC said.
• JPMorgan is often seen by crypto enthusiasts as the epitome of mainstream finance skepticism of cryptocurrency, CNBC said, thanks largely to comments made by CEO Jamie Dimon in 2017 when he labelled bitcoin a “fraud,” saying he would fire any traders known to be trading it.

See also: Crypto-Friendly Signature Bank Added to JPMorgan’s ‘Focus List’