JPMorgan Just Did What Every Bank Said They’d Never Do…
Gregory Cowles
Chief Strategy Officer, Co-Founder
Blog
8 min read
This Post is Disseminated on behalf of Intellistake Technologies Corp.
You know those moments when irony writes the headline for you?
“JPMorgan to Allow Bitcoin and Ether as Collateral.”1
I had to read it twice; not because I doubted it, but because it felt like a punchline that had been building for a decade. The same bank whose CEO once called Bitcoin a “hyped-up fraud”2 is now willing to lend against it. For years, Wall Street treated crypto like an eccentric relative… tolerated at gatherings, occasionally mocked, but always kept outside the circle. Now that same outsider has a seat at the table …and no one’s laughing.
The Slow Walk Toward Inevitable Adoption
There’s an old saying: ‘First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.’ - Crypto is living that, word for word.
At first, Bitcoin was a digital curiosity; something you could use to buy pizza or make tech forums slightly more interesting. Then came the ridicule. Remember when “tulip mania”3 became every journalist’s favorite phrase? For a while, it felt like financial columnists were competing for who could come up with the most creative insult.
Then came the fight. Banks distanced themselves. Regulators scrambled to define it. Commentators dismissed it as “nothing.” And yet, quietly, infrastructure kept improving. Custody became institutional-grade. Governments began writing rules instead of bans. The conversation moved from “is this real?” to “how do we regulate it?” …and that’s when you know an idea has arrived.
So here we are. JPMorgan, the most traditional of traditional banks, now treating Bitcoin like any other acceptable form of collateral, right next to stocks, bonds, and gold. When collateral frameworks change, that’s not marketing, it’s systemic.
It means crypto has been absorbed into the bloodstream of finance.
The Turning of the Tide
This isn’t happening in isolation.
BlackRock is running the world’s largest Bitcoin ETF. Fidelity has been quietly building one of the most sophisticated crypto custody operations in North America. Morgan Stanley’s retail arm will soon let E*Trade users access digital assets directly.
Meanwhile, the same institutions that once called crypto “too volatile” now hold billions of dollars’ worth of it in ETFs, custody accounts, and balance sheets. Even Jamie Dimon, JP Morgan CEO - and the man who once declared Bitcoin a ‘fraud’, now says,
“I don’t think we should smoke, but I defend your right to smoke.”4
A charming metaphor, if slightly condescending. Still, progress.
And perhaps that’s the real story here; not conversion, but capitulation. The banks didn’t wake up one day believing in decentralization; they woke up realizing they couldn’t afford to ignore it.
At Intellistake, we’ve always viewed this shift as inevitable. Our entire model, from secure custody and validator operations to decentralized AI infrastructure, is built around a single premise: that digital assets will integrate, not replace. They’ll sit alongside traditional systems, not outside them. What’s happening at JPMorgan today simply confirms what we’ve been preparing for all along; the merging of old trust and new technology.
A Glimpse From the Ground
Earlier this month, Jason (our CEO) and I were in Singapore for Token2049, the biggest crypto event of the year. I’ve been around different blockchain events over the years, and usually, you can stroll right into panels, chat with founders over coffee in their booths, and still grab a good seat at the keynote. Not this year.
This time, there were queues; long, winding queues ..just to get in. People waited for hours in the humidity, wearing suits, lanyards, and wide smiles that said “I’m here early.” It wasn’t just crypto enthusiasts anymore. It was hedge funds, banks, sovereign wealth reps, and enterprise executives. You could feel it: the mood had shifted from speculative to strategic.
If you’ve ever wanted a visual for adoption, it’s watching crowds of bankers or traditional financiers patiently waiting outside a crypto conference. It’s poetic, really.
The scale, the interest, the capital; all of it speaks to where this is heading. What was once niche has become necessary. Tokenization, on-chain custody, decentralized data systems; these aren’t side projects anymore; they’re the next phase of the financial internet.
Beyond Bitcoin: The Real Opportunity
Let’s be honest here; Bitcoin being used as collateral is symbolic, but it’s also a doorway. What follows is where things get interesting. Because once banks accept digital assets as reliable storehouses of value, it’s only a matter of time before they start lending, trading, and structuring around them.
Then comes tokenized everything. Real estate, carbon credits, royalties, even treasury instruments, all fractionalized, auditable, and programmable. We’re already seeing this unfold in markets from Zurich to Dubai. And as institutions move from speculative exposure to operational integration, the infrastructure behind it; the custody, compliance, and AI-driven analytics ..becomes the real prize.
That’s exactly where Intellistake’s work is focused. We’re not chasing the next meme token. We’re helping to build the rails that make tokenized value flow; securely, transparently, and compliantly. The kind of rails JPMorgan, BlackRock, and sovereign funds could soon depend on.
So yes, Bitcoin as collateral is a milestone. But it’s also the start of a new financial vocabulary.
The Future Comes Quietly, Then All at Once
Funny thing about paradigm shifts: they rarely announce themselves. There’s no fireworks, no parade; just a line in a press release that says “JPMorgan to Allow Bitcoin and Ether as Collateral.”
And yet, that line signals a complete rewiring of how trust, credit, and value are defined.
If you’d told someone in 2015 this would happen, they’d have laughed. In 2017, they’d have argued. In 2020, they’d have called it far-fetched. Now, in 2025, it’s just a Thursday.
That’s progress.
First they laugh, then they fight …and eventually, they start offering you loans against your Bitcoin..
For education only, not investment advice. Any forward-looking points are my views today, may change, and include risks.
There has been significant volatility in digital assets and their value can decline rapidly, which in turn would lead to a decline in the stock price of companies holding digital assets. Intellistake is a start-up that does not have the same access to capital as other larger more established companies. Intellistake has just commenced operating its business and is at an early stage of development. Intellistake is entering this space by acquiring and operating blockchain validator hardware that supports AI networks and investing in AI-related digital tokens to primarily operate validator hardware. Intellistake is developing custom AI software systems called "AI Agents" for businesses. It recently announced the development of IntelliScope, a newly designed enterprise artificial-intelligence (AI) suite that applies decentralized AI technologies to deliver transparent and verifiable corporate intelligence. IntelliScope, which is in testing, is being publicly introduced as Intellistake's enterprise AI suite, reflecting the Company's focus on advancing practical applications of decentralized AI technologies. The IntelliScope suite is being developed as a collection of modular AI agents, each intended to address specific enterprise challenges. Development has advanced through internal closed testing, where functionality is being refined and validated. Built to leverage decentralized AI technologies developed within the ASI Alliance FET token ecosystem, IntelliScope is now preparing to move into closed beta testing with an enterprise client, a phase focused on gathering feedback to shape premium features and expand real-world use cases. The Company intends to deliver these solutions either as one-time projects or ongoing subscription services. Revenue is expected to come from implementation fees and monthly subscription payments. The Company does not presently have any customers. Intellistake is just commencing operations. It is targeting significant growth but its business is subject to several risks related to general business, economic and social uncertainties; the sufficiency of cash to meet liquidity needs; legislative, political and competitive developments; the inherent risks involved in the digital currency and general securities markets; the volatility of digital currency prices and the additional risks identified in the "Risk Factors" section of the Company’s filings with applicable securities regulators. Intellistake has not yet developed or commercialized its AI solutions. This report contains "forward-looking information" concerning anticipated developments and events related to the Company that may occur in the future. Forward looking information contained in this report includes, but is not limited to, all statements in respect of the Company's growth and development, the operations and business segments of the Company, expectations regarding the market for gold, digital currencies and decentralized AI, expectations for infrastructure to support digital currencies,support for decentralized AI and blockchain networks, a broader strategy to grow the Company’s position in AI and tech digital assets, revenue generation potential and details regarding staking and validator operations. In certain cases, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as "expects", "intends", "anticipates" or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "would", or "might" suggesting future outcomes, or other expectations, assumptions, intentions or statements about future events or performance. Forward-looking information contained in this report is based on certain assumptions regarding, among other things, the Company will continue to have access to financing until it achieves profitability; the technology and blockchain industries in which the Company intends to focus its business in will grow at the rate and in the manner expected; the ability to attract and retain qualified personnel; the success of market initiatives and the ability to grow brand awareness; the ability to distribute Company's services; the Company creates strategies to mitigate risks associated with cryptocurrency price fluctuations; the Company remains compliant with all applicable laws and securities regulations; the Company engages and collaborates with local experts, as necessary, to address jurisdiction-specific matters and ensures compliance with foreign regulations to avoid penalties; the Company addresses any potential cybersecurity threats promptly and effectively; the AI Agent technology can be developed and deployed with real world applications; and the ability to successfully deploy the new business strategy as a result of the change of business. While the Company considers these assumptions to be reasonable, they may be incorrect. Forward looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results to be materially different from any future results expressed by the forward-looking information. Such factors include risks related to general business, economic and social uncertainties; failure to raise the capital necessary to fund its operations; inability to create strategies to mitigate the risks associated with cryptocurrency price fluctuations; risks relating to the ability to develop the AI Agent technology and relating to the deployment of validator operations; the ability to acquire digital tokens at reasonable acquisition prices; the costs of regulation in the digital asset industries increase to the extent that the Company is no longer generating sufficient returns for shareholders; failure to promptly and effectively address cybersecurity threats; insufficient resources to maintain its operations on a competitive basis; and the actual costs, timing and future plans differs expectations; legislative, environmental and other judicial, regulatory, political and competitive developments; the inherent risks involved in the cryptocurrency and general securities markets; the Company may not be able to profitably liquidate its current digital currency inventory, or at all; a decline in digital currency prices may have a significant negative impact on the Company's operations; the Company's success may depend on the continued involvement of key personnel, including advisors, whose involvement cannot be guaranteed; institutional adoption of decentralized AI infrastructure remains uncertain and may not occur at the pace or scale anticipated; evolving regulatory frameworks, including those related to AI (such as Canada's proposed Artificial Intelligence and Data Act), may impose additional compliance burdens or restrict certain business activities; valuation figures are based on publicly available market data and internal assessments at the time of the referenced transactions and may not reflect current or future valuations; the volatility of digital currency prices; the inherent uncertainty of cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses, currency fluctuations; regulatory restrictions, liability, competition, loss of key employees and other related risks and uncertainties; delay or failure to receive regulatory approvals; failure to attract qualified personnel, labour disputes; and the additional risks identified in the "Risk Factors" section of the Company's filings with applicable Canadian securities regulators. Although the Company has attempted to identify factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The forward-looking information is made as of the date of this report. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update forward-looking information.
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