Confirmation is provided by JPMorgan executive Scott Lucas that commercial services for digital currency transactions are undergoing preparation for implementation, but a reluctance to manage the secure storage of digital assets is currently being demonstrated by his financial institution.
Intentional efforts to expand its participation in the areas of decentralized ledger technology and digital assets are being pursued by JPMorgan, and schemes to provide commercial services for cryptocurrency transactions are now being formulated, as was disclosed by an executive of the corporation.
The immediate secure storage of digital currencies is currently being excluded from consideration, however.
A question was directed at Scott Lucas, the global head of markets and digital assets for JPMorgan, while he was appearing on CNBC’s Squawk Box Europe on Monday, inquiring whether the enormous financial institution would emulate rivals like Citibank in providing secure storage services for digital currencies for its clientele.
It was clarified by Lucas in his verbal submission that the service is not positioned on the “immediate near-future outlook” of the financial institution, but it was stressed by him that the provision of commercial services for digital asset transactions is actively being pursued by the organization.
“I think Jamie [Dimon] was pretty clear on investor day that we’re going to be involved in the trading of that, but custody is not on the table at the moment,”
he said
“There’s a lot of questions around our own risk appetite and how far we wanna go down that path, from trading and other sides of it, and custody I guess would follow.”
adding that:
An investigation is currently being conducted by Lucas and JPMorgan to determine the characteristics of “the optimal secure third-party custodians” that would be suitable for the financial enterprise.
Inside JPMorgan’s ‘And’ Strategy Toward Crypto Integration
The strategy known as the “and” approach was referenced multiple times by Lucas during the broadcast dialogue, as he elaborated that the financial institution is aiming to profit from numerous possibilities within the industry, rather than concentrating solely on one prospect to the exclusion of another.
“I think when it comes to how we approach this, we’re very much taking an ‘and’ approach. There’s the existing market and there’s opportunities to do new things. And those ‘and’ opportunities aren’t exclusive to one or the other,”
he said.
A progressively broader methodology concerning digital assets and decentralized ledger technology has been adopted by JPMorgan in 2025, with collaborative arrangements established with major sector corporations, such as Coinbase, serving as a principal demonstration.
The heightened institutional involvement appears to be partially driven by a modification in the communicated disposition of its CEO, Jamie Dimon, who was once notably skeptical of digital assets.
Subsequent to an extensive track record of denouncing the digital asset sector, a declaration was issued by Dimon in August that he had been converted into an “advocate for stable financial tokens” and that he perceives inherent utility in the underlying decentralized ledger technology.
In the context of JPMorgan’s deposit token, designated as JPMD, the initial trial deployment of which commenced on the Base platform in June, it was asserted by Lucas that while the immense financial entity maintains a keen enthusiasm regarding its capacity to cater to institutional clientele, concurrent surveillance is also being directed toward stable digital financial assets.
“So when it comes to JPMD, I think it’s really exciting, there’s a real opportunity for us to think about how we can offer different services for our clients on the cash side. As well as responding to client demand to do things like stablecoins,”
he said
And that strategy is still emerging, as you can understand. It’s only really been a few months since we’ve had some more clear regulation around what the opportunity looks like.”
adding:
In the context of the more extensive decentralized ledger technology domain, it was additionally articulated by Lucas that the conviction is not held by JPMorgan that merely one network, such as Ethereum, will unilaterally dominate the marketplace and assume the role of the principal nexus for commercial undertakings.
Instead, numerous avenues for involvement are perceived by him which the financial institution possesses the capacity to potentially engage with in the immediate future.
“I don’t think there’ll be one, and actually we expected some consolidation in that space and now we’re seeing a bunch of new layer 1s being rolled out… so there’s a lot to play for when it comes to the public blockchain, we certainly see opportunity there and we will be doing things in that space in the coming quarters,”
he said.
