Largest Bank In US Is Now Serving Crypto Exchanges.

JPMorgan Chase is the largest bank in the United States. And according to a recent report by the Wall Street Journal, the bank is now serving crypto exchanges. For anyone familiar with the history of crypto and the bank, this comes as huge news. Cryptocurrencies have had a long streak of bad relationships with the banking sector. This is nothing new in the world of technology.

Historically, it has been seen again and again that there is always a clash between old and new technologies. When the car first came out, the horse carriages cried scam. The same happened when the internet first came out. Offline businesses were quick to dismiss its potential. In the end, the newer tech always wins. The same is happening with cryptocurrencies and banks as well.

Banking Services Now Open

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JPMorgan Chase has opened up banking services for two of the largest US crypto exchanges. They are Coinbase and Gemini. This was confirmed by an unnamed source in the Wall Street Journal’s report. They also said that it was on May 12, the day of the halving, that the banking relationship commenced. This is the first time that they have started serving clients from the crypto industry.

It is important to note that the banking giant is not processing bitcoin transactions. But they are providing cash management services along with handling dollar transactions. These services are only open for their US-based clients. Also, they will route these transfers, deposits, and withdrawals through their Automated Clearing House network.

Read More: What Is the Bitcoin Whitepaper

Service Denials In The Past

In the past, banks have straight away denied services to cryptocurrency exchange and regular users. This is despite the fact that cryptocurrencies are legal in those countries. When reports called these activities out, the banks are always quick to point towards “company policies”. However, it is well-known to the crypto community that the actual reasons are something else.

In reality, banks fear cryptocurrencies. This is only natural. If crypto takes off and becomes as mainstream as smartphones, then their businesses will be hampered. That’s because, in crypto, you are your own bank. You can store your crypto on your local device. No central authority can freeze or tap your assets. Also, you can easily use exchanges to convert from one crypto to another.

Another important thing is that crypto can be used as payments. Many countries like Canada and Japan allow merchants to transact in crypto. So naturally, if more and more people start doing this, they wouldn’t need banks in the first place. So, banks might be trying to hamper the speed at which crypto becomes mainstream. However, history is proof that new technology just can’t be stopped.

But it seems like banks like JPMorgan Chase are turning a new leaf. The CEO, Jamie Dimon, has been a huge critic of cryptocurrencies. He has called bitcoin “worse than tulip bulbs” in the past. For them to now start providing banking services to exchanges is a huge forward-looking step.