Wealth Manager States that Wall Street Firms Advising Against Crypto

JPMorgan Chase and Godman Sachs have been alleged to advise their clients out of the crypto space, according to Adam Pokornicky, a wealth manager.

Almost Losing Clients Due To Outside Influence

Pokornicky stands as the chief operating officer at Digital Asset Investment Management, or DAIM, which is a US-registered investment advisor for cryptocurrencies. Pokornicky claimed that his firm had almost lost a client due to the intervention of the banks themselves.

In an interview, Pokornicky stated that the client he almost lost was a lawyer, someone the wealth manager claimed to be of high net worth.

I have a client who was ready to buy #bitcoin & after talking to his Advisors at JPM & GS told me he's not interested anymore. I asked what they said & instead of answering, he asked me to explain in one sentence what the benefits are to buying BTC now in terms of proven results.

— Adam Pokornicky (@callmethebear) April 30, 2020

According to Pokornicky, this was a man he knew for an extended period of time, describing him as someone he’s worked with for years and considers a friend.

Wall Street Institutions Against Crypto

As Pokornicky explained, his client was already prepared to buy a minor amount of BTC to add to his portfolio. However, the client experienced a sudden change of heart after he spoke to advisors from both Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan. Pokornicky explained that the only reason why he would change his mind from buying 1 Bitcoin (Approximately $9,000 at the time of writing) to not being interested in the slightest, is if he was talked out of it. However, Pokornicky failed to eke out more context from his client, stating that he still doesn’t know what was said to him, exactly.

Pokornicky stated that Wall Street institutions, as a whole, tend to advise their clients away from cryptocurrencies. This stands in accordance with company guidelines.

Pokornicky stated that both he and his partner had worked at the buy-side of trading and hedge funds for most of their careers. As such, the wealth manager said that they have a very large number of friends and colleagues at Wall Street that still work for the big banks like Goldman, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo, JPM, as well as Merrill/BofA. These people, according to Pokornicky, have to go through an inordinate amount of compliance hoops to buy Bitcoin or are otherwise restricted from purchasing it outright. This stretches to the advisors of the wealth management divisions of these firms as well, who are outright prohibited from owning any Bitcoin.

Only Happy If Crypto Is On Their Terms

The more amusing aspect is the contradictions within the Wall Street firms, themselves, JPMorgan being a vital example of this. Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPM, is known throughout the crypto industry as a naysayer of Bitcoin. However, he was the one at the helm when the JPM Coin was launched, a stablecoin digital asset.

Goldman Sachs entered the industry some time ago, having invested in a range of critical projects, such as the Tradeshift cloud-based supply chain company, as well as the Circle payments application.

It seems that major financial institutions only desire crypto when it’s on their terms. Something that many an industry prefers.