JPMorgan is considering whether to give its clients access to a new bitcoin contract being offered by the derivatives giant CME Group, despite its CEO Jamie Dimon's very public outbursts over the cryptocurrency, writes Alexander Osipovich for The Wall Street Journal.

CME wants to launch bitcoin futures by the end of 2017, allowing traders to bet on whether the price of the digital currency will rise or fall — the move is seen as an important step in the evolution of bitcoin, the price of which hit an all-time high earlier this week.