Multinational investment bank JP Morgan Chase has decided to offer its banking services to United States based cryptocurrency exchanges Gemini and Coinbase, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal published on May 12. This marks the first cryptocurrency set of exchanges to be supported by JP Morgan Chase, which, along with CEO Jamie Dimon, was once known to have a negative opinion of Bitcoin (BTC) and the cryptocurrency market.

Sources close to WSJ said that the bank had added the two exchanges as banking partners in April, and will help them handle funds in the US. No official statement has been made yet, and none of the three entities have commented on the matter. One of the sources said that the information is private.

JP Morgan reportedly conducted extensive background research on the two exchanges, noting the fact that they are both regulated and registered as money transmitters with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). 

The Gemini Exchange, founded by the Winklevoss twins, is in particular very adamant about compliance and was the first exchange to receive the BitLicense exchange. Cameron Winklevoss confirmed the exchange’s intentions to soon expand into the European and Asian markets at the ongoing Consensus: Distributed conference. Gemini has only a handful of coins listed, instead focusing on working within regulation.

JP Morgan has been well documented in regards to its disapproval of digital assets. CEO Dimon had once called Bitcoin a fraud in 2017 - only to change tack in 2018. 

JP Morgan has since made considerable forays into the space, even if a recent report about a JP Morgan associate showed little confidence on their end for the asset. The bank announced JPM Coin in 2019, a new blockchain and token to accelerate payments within its network of clients.