The financial giant introduces a BTC-based product as tensions rise with Strategy and companies holding digital-asset treasuries.
The Bitcoin community is in turmoil after JPMorgan announced the launch of a financial product tied to Bitcoin. The move has triggered accusations of conflicts of interest and market manipulation, with supporters of companies holding digital-asset treasuries denouncing what they call unfair tactics from the banking giant.
JPMorgan has filed documentation with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to launch Bitcoin-backed notes with financial leverage. The product is designed to amplify the asset’s price movements, offering investors 1.5 times Bitcoin’s gains or losses through December 2028. According to the official filings, the launch is scheduled for December 2025. Many bitcoiners argue that this financial instrument places the bank in direct competition with companies that hold bitcoin on their balance sheets.
The controversy between JPMorgan and Strategy
The product’s presentation has triggered strong reactions within the community. Strategy, the world’s largest corporate holder of bitcoin, is at the center of the dispute. Many observers claim that the bank disseminated negative information about Bitcoin treasury companies precisely as it prepared to launch its competing product.
TFTC commented on X that Strategy opened the door to the $300 trillion bond market and the $145 trillion fixed-income market. Now, JPMorgan is issuing BTC-backed bonds to compete directly, according to this analysis.
Simon Dixon, a Bitcoin advocate, expressed specific concerns about the new financial instrument. According to Dixon, JPMorgan’s product was structured to trigger margin calls on bitcoin-backed loans. This mechanism, he argues, could force Bitcoin treasury companies to sell their holdings during market downturns, amplifying downward pressure on the price.
The MSCI proposal
Tensions escalated when MSCI, a company that manages equity indices and establishes the criteria for index inclusion, proposed a regulatory change that would exclude Bitcoin treasury companies from its products. The new rule, expected in January, would exclude from indices companies with more than 50% of their assets in cryptocurrencies.
JPMorgan shared this proposal in a November research note, attracting further criticism from the community and from Strategy’s investors. Being excluded from equity indices would deprive these companies of passive capital flows, potentially forcing them to liquidate part of their bitcoin holdings to qualify for inclusion.
The community’s response
The community’s reaction was immediate. On X, Bitcoin supporters and investors in digital-asset-treasury companies are now calling for a boycott of JPMorgan. The appeal urges community members to close their accounts with the institution and to sell any JPMorgan stock they might own.
The main accusations center on an alleged double standard: while JPMorgan publicly criticized the strategies of bitcoin-treasury companies, it was simultaneously developing a financial product that essentially replicates the same business model.
