The Bitcoin community denounces JPMorgan's anti-Strategy maneuvers

The imminent launch of a structured bitcoin product by JPMorgan is causing reactions. For part of the crypto community, this is not a simple financial innovation, but a targeted offensive against players like Strategy. As bitcoin gains ground as a reserve asset, the divide between traditional finance and pro-BTC strategies becomes clearer. Behind the apparent neutrality of the markets, some denounce an attempt at influence aimed at weakening the companies most exposed to assets.

JPMorgan in the crosshairs of bitcoin supporters

JPMorgan's announcement of a new structured product linked to the price of bitcoin has triggered a wave of criticism within the crypto community.

It is about of 1.5× leveraged notescorrelated to the performance of BTC, with a deadline set for December 2028. This initiative is seen as contradictory by many observers, to the extent that JPMorgan has long been critical of bitcoin.

The indignation is all the stronger as some see it as a disguised attack against emblematic companies like Strategy. “The same institutions that attack Strategy are now taking over its strategy”commented a user on X, summarizing the ambient feeling.

Critics have focused on several key points :

• The problematic leverage effect: the product would allow institutional players to bet on the volatility of BTC, without any real commitment to the underlying asset;

• A risk of a domino effect: some fear that the tool will serve to amplify market movements in bearish phases, generating increased selling pressure;

• The indirect targeting of Strategy: several voices agree that the goal would be to provoke margin calls on BTC-backed loans held by companies like MSTR;

• Calls for response: in response, influential members of the crypto sphere are calling to close their accounts at JPMorgan and disengage from its actions.

According to one of the critics, these financial instruments do not exist to diversify exposure to BTC, but to exert artificial selling pressure during downturns. This perception fuels the distrust of an ecosystem already sensitized to attempts to control, or even oust, Bitcoin strategies in the upper echelons of traditional finance.

A systemic threat to crypto treasuries?

Beyond the structured product itself, it is another front opened by JPMorgan which crystallizes the concerns: its involvement in a proposal to reform the MSCI indices.

This would aim to exclude companies whose assets 50% or more are denominated in cryptos. A measure that would directly affect Strategy, whose bitcoin accumulation strategy is at the heart of the business model. According to an internal note from JPMorgan, this exclusion could lead to significant passive outflows, with an impact estimated at $11.6 billion if it extended to all of the indices concerned.

Michael Saylor, founder and executive chairman of Strategy, defended his company against accusations of being an “inactive holding company.” He claims that the company has an active economic activity, with data analysis software and a clear strategy around bitcoin.

For him, the attempt at exclusion amounts to punishing a company for its cash management, even though it is transparent and consistent. This controversy raises the question: are we seeking to disqualify companies favorable to bitcoin from the major indices, at the risk of triggering imbalances in the markets? If exclusions were to become widespread, they could weaken an entire section of institutional crypto strategy.

This affair reveals a deep divide between traditional financial institutions and supporters of decentralized finance. Beyond the Strategy case, it questions the future of companies exposed to bitcoin in an ecosystem where the logic of power and influence increasingly shapes the rules of the game.