JPMorgan’s CEO, Jamie Dimon, has come out to bash Bitcoin (BTC) and the crypto industry as a whole again. Dimon shared his opinions during the Institute of International Finance (IIF) annual meeting, a seven-day event that brings together leaders in the financial services industry. In his speech, Dimon said BTC is worthless.
However, he pointed out that JPMorgan’s clients disagree with his sentiments, saying,
“Our clients are adults, they disagree, that’s what makes markets, so if they want to have access to buy yourself Bitcoin, we can’t custody it but we can give them legitimate, as-clean-as-possible access.”
He said this while referring to JPMorgan’s decision to help clients buy crypto-related products from funds like Grayscale and Osprey. At the moment, the renowned investment bank has advisors that help clients gain exposure to coins like BTC, Ethereum (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and Ethereum Classic (ETC). The advisors are, however, not allowed to solicit investments in such products.
While he does not object to JPMorgan clients embracing the crypto space, Dimon warned that the growing anxiety around stablecoins and digital assets would see the US government ramp up efforts to regulate the sectors. He pointed out that the government will regulate the nascent industry regardless of the opinions of libertarians and even people in the financial services industry.
However, creating a regulatory framework for the crypto sector has proved challenging for financial watchdogs. At the moment, stablecoins seem to be taking most of the heat, with legislators and regulators calling for their regulation.
Dimon is bullish on the blockchain
Dimon, who has been a BTC critic since 2014, has in several instances bashed BTC, claiming it is a terrible store of value, a fraud, fool’s gold that has no inherent value, among others. However, he is bullish on the blockchain and believes it will play a significant role in transforming the finance sector.
Speaking during the New York Times DealBook Online Summit in November last year, Dimon said,
“The blockchain itself will be critical to letting people move money around the world cheaper. We will always support blockchain technology.”
As a result of warming up to the blockchain, JPMorgan launched a digital payments coin dubbed JPM Coin, which facilitates instantaneous payments through the bank’s proprietary blockchain network, Onyx. JPM Coin quickly became popular, with even Goldman Sachs, a JPMorgan rival, using the coin to execute its first blockchain-based repo trade.
BTC continues rising against the odds
This news comes after China introduced an outright ban on crypto in the past month, a move that Dimon claims to have foreseen. As a result, BTC plunged sharply, registering a double-digit loss in 24 hours. However, the coin started rising soon afterward and added over $15,000 in under three weeks.
At the time of writing, BTC is changing hands at $56,114.73 after losing 2.265 over the last 24 hours. With Google joining hands with Bakkt to offer crypto payments through Google Pay, BTC is poised for further growth.
