JPMorgan Chase is considering offering loans backed by clients’ cryptocurrency holdings, including bitcoin and ether.

Citadel Securities is urging U.S. regulators to slow down their approach to tokenized securities, arguing that the shift to blockchain-based trading could disrupt capital markets and disadvantage large institutional players.

A new ether-focused investment vehicle is set to list on the Nasdaq through a $1.5 billion merger with special purpose acquisition company Dynamix Corporation (DYNX).

Top stories in the Crypto Roundup today:

• JPMorgan Weighs Crypto-Collateralized Loans
• Citadel Securities Urges SEC to Slow Rollout of Tokenized Securities
• Ether-Focused Investment Firm to Go Public via $1.5B SPAC Deal

JPMorgan Weighs Crypto-Collateralized Loans

JPMorgan Chase is considering offering loans backed by clients’ cryptocurrency holdings, including bitcoin and ether.

The move would mark a first for the bank and a notable departure from CEO Jamie Dimon’s past opposition to digital assets.

Eight years ago, Dimon labeled bitcoin a “fraud,” but his stance has since evolved. In May, he compared it to smoking: personally opposed, but supportive of others’ freedom to participate. 

The plan, still under consideration, would require technical and compliance safeguards. JPMorgan, like most U.S. banks, does not custody crypto assets. If implemented, the bank would likely partner with a third-party custodian, such as Coinbase, to hold the assets. 

The initiative would follow its earlier step of lending against crypto exchange-traded funds, inching closer to direct exposure.

Citadel Securities Urges SEC to Slow Rollout of Tokenized Securities

Citadel Securities is urging U.S. regulators to slow down their approach to tokenized securities, arguing that the shift to blockchain-based trading could disrupt capital markets and disadvantage large institutional players.

In a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Crypto Task Force, the firm called for any move toward tokenization to go through formal rulemaking. 

Citadel said the SEC should ensure that blockchain innovations offer real efficiency gains, “rather than through self-serving regulatory arbitrage.”

The firm warned that these new digital markets could pull liquidity from traditional stock exchanges, creating fragmented pools of capital that exclude pensions, banks, and endowments due to compliance restrictions. This could weaken demand for initial public offerings and steer more companies to raise funds privately through tokenized channels.

Ether-Focused Investment Firm to Go Public via $1.5B SPAC Deal

A new ether-focused investment vehicle is set to list on the Nasdaq through a $1.5 billion merger with special purpose acquisition company Dynamix Corporation (DYNX).

The new entity, called The Ether Machine, will trade under the ticker ETHM and serve as a publicly traded avenue for investors to gain exposure to ether and ETH-denominated yield. It will seek returns through staking, restaking, and decentralized finance strategies.

At launch, Ether Machine is expected to hold more than 400,000 ETH, worth approximately $1.53 billion, making it one of the largest single holders of the asset in a public investment structure. 

Roughly $645 million worth of that ETH will come from Andrew Keys, former Consensys executive and Ether Machine’s incoming chairman. An additional $800 million is backed by investors including Pantera Capital, 1RoundTable Partners, Kraken, and Blockchain.com.

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