The multinational investment bank, JPMorgan Chase, plans to launch a basket of stocks of crypto companies. The bank filed a form with the U.S. SEC in March 2021. The whole process is due to be complete by May 2022.
Called the J.P. Morgan Cryptocurrency Exposure Basket, it will provide debt instruments linked to 11 companies with ties to cryptocurrency. The basket itself will not invest in crypto companies, but invest in the market via the proxy of these companies.
In its prospectus, the bank said,
“[These are] businesses that we believe to be, directly or indirectly, related to cryptocurrencies or other digital assets, including as a result of bitcoin (BTC, +1.02%) holdings, cryptocurrency technology products, cryptocurrency mining products, digital payments or bitcoin trading,”
JP Morgan also deems four of these companies as “reference stocks,” which include MicroStrategy and Square. These particular two have invested heavily in Bitcoin and have made national headlines. The other two are common stocks, namely Riot Blockchain and NVIDIA Corporation.
These four stocks will have a heavy influence on the performance of the basket, as they are assigned the biggest weight. It notes that investors should be willing to forego interest and dividend payments and “willing to lose some or all of their principal amount at maturity.”
This product is the first of its kind for JPMorgan Chase. The bank has warmed up to cryptocurrencies, even saying that Bitcoin could go as high as $146,000.
Crypto Companies Eagerly Seeking Public Listing
JPMorgan Chase’s new offering comes at a time when several crypto companies are considering going public. Coinbase is the most notable of these and recently was valued as high as $90 billion. A series of private sales have taken place, with a direct listing expected by the end of the month.
Other companies that are considering going public include the Gemini exchange, mining hardware manufacturer MicroBT, and social trading platform eToro. These companies are utilizing the heightened interest in the market that has accompanied the recent rally.
However, all eyes are now on Coinbase, with a direct listing expected to be a landmark development for the market. Generally speaking, analysts have high hopes for the public performance of these stocks — which would also likely bode well for the market.
