Direction Bitcoin - JP Morgan Appoints Crypto Assets Strategy Chief

Just nine months after the CEO stigmatized the leading crypto asset as a 'scam', JPMorgan Chase seems to be starting to take the digital currency more seriously. They announced today that they have appointed a head of the Crypto Assets Strategy.

Is JP Morgan warming for crypto?
The newly created role at the US multinational bank will be taken over by Oliver Harris. Harris was formerly head of JPMorgan's fintech and in-residence program. In his new position, he will focus on the use of digital currencies in the financial institution. According to Financial News London, his role will include analysis on the opportunities and risks of blockchain technology and the digital currency itself.

Harris' new position will put him in charge of Umar Farooq, the current head of blockchain initiatives for JPMorgan's Corporate and Investment Bank. His change of direction was announced internally on Wednesday, although his successor as head of the fintech and in-residence program is still unknown.

Blockchain project already in the starting blocks
The new head of the Crypto Assets strategy will also oversee JPMorgan's quorum project - an internal blockchain initiative. The bank is considering converting Quorum into a company of its own, but is currently looking for Blockchain engineers and a community manager in New York. The move to appoint Harris to the newly created position represents a major turnaround for JPMorgan. It appears that JP Morgan is taking the cryptocurrencies more seriously, as this would justify exploring the technology.

Of course, such a change of heart could also have something to do with rival Goldman Sachs, who will launch a Bitcoin Trading Desk in the coming weeks / months. Despite today's news suggesting that JPMorgan is taking cryptocurrencies more seriously, some of the company's most influential personalities are still officially skeptical.