JP Morgan adds crypto-friendly Signature Bank to its focus list

JP Morgan, the financial services giant that has prominent crypto clients such as Coinbase and Gemini, has put Signature Bank on its focus list. 

A focus list involves which stocks the firm’s research department proposes as most promising. JP Morgan’s move to include Signature Bank suggests the bank can “ride the crypto wave,” JP Morgan analyst Steven Alexopoulos told MarketWatch today. 

Signature Bank has historically been crypto-friendly, and previously maintained a list of crypto firm clientele like Bittrex, ConsenSys, BitFlyer, and Polychain. 

Signature faces competition with another leading crypto-friendly bank, Silvergate, which offers banking services to the likes of Circle, Paxos, and Kraken. However, Signature held more than 25 times the assets Silvergate held in 2020 and has now surpassed over $10 billion deposits, says Alexopoulos.

Perhaps the banking tool that sets Signature apart is Signet, a digital payment platform based on blockchain technology, that was launched in June of 2020. Signet contributed $200 million to Signature’s $8 billion deposits in Q2 a month after launching.