Jamie Dimon, CEO of investment banking powerhouse JPMorgan Chase, slandered Bitcoin’s popularity in an online interview with Times of India while claiming that the leading digital currency might expand 10x in five years.
Dimon, who has long been a sceptic of Bitcoin (BTC), termed it a scam in 2017 and cited reports that criminals may dodge authorities by conducting their financial operations in BTC rather than US dollars.
When asked if Bitcoin or other cryptocurrency assets should be prohibited or controlled, Dimon told the Times of India:
“I don’t really care about Bitcoin. I think people waste too much time and breath on it. But it is going to be regulated. […] And that will constrain it to some extent. But whether it eliminates it, I have no idea and I don’t personally care. I am not a buyer of Bitcoin. That does not mean it can’t go 10 times in price in the next five years.”
Despite this, JPMorgan has shown an increasing interest in the creation and implementation of crypto and blockchain initiatives over the past year.
In January, the company bought a 10% interest in MicroStrategy, a hyper-bullish business analytics firm whose CEO, Michael Saylor, is one of Bitcoin’s most well-known investors and holders.
In July, the bank posted various job openings throughout the world seeking blockchain developers, engineers, and marketers to work for its crypto-focused Onyx business, which is in charge of releasing JPM Coin, the bank’s stablecoin asset, in October 2020.
Counterpoint Global, a JPMorgan subsidiary, is considering selling cryptocurrency investments to rich clients, according to a recent report. With over $150 billion in assets under management, this would be a significant endorsement for the rest of the banking industry.
JPMorgan is apparently planning to provide retail wealth clients access to cryptocurrency funds.
Dimon has come under fire for his dismissive attitude toward digital currencies, none more so than from Wall Street veteran Max Keiser in a late-2020 interview. To emphasize his dissatisfaction with the banking magnate, Keiser used a biological analogy:
“Bitcoin came into existence as a spontaneous life form that grew out of our global, collective consciousness as a defence mechanism to fight predatory central banks. Jamie Dimon is a parasite, like a tapeworm, and our species had no defence. So with God’s help, we collectively willed Bitcoin into existence to fight fiat money, fractional reserve banking and Keynesian debt-money propaganda.”
