Is Bitcoin A ‘Fraud’ And ‘Pet Rock?’ JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon Says So

Regardless of the extended crypto winter, proponents of cryptocurrencies are bullish in regards to the trade’s prospects. And to this point this yr, they’ve had trigger for happiness.

After a dismal 2022, the value of Bitcoin, the preferred cryptocurrency on the earth, has been inching upward over the previous few weeks.

In accordance with knowledge from Coingecko, Bitcoin is buying and selling at $22,709 on the time of writing, a rise of 15% over the previous week.

Nonetheless, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon stays unconvinced of the crypto’s efficiency. In truth, he has all the time been.

As far again September 2017, the chief government had maintained an antagonistic stance in opposition to Bitcoin.

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon. Picture: The Enterprise Journals

Will Bitcoin ‘Blow Up?’

He minced no phrases in the course of the time in regards to the crypto by saying Bitcoin “is a fraud” and can “blow up.”

Dimon acknowledged that he would terminate any JPMorgan merchants who engaged in cryptocurrency buying and selling “straight away.” He offered two causes: “It’s in opposition to our insurance policies, and so they silly, and each are harmful.”

Quick ahead, six years, the banking large prime honcho remains to be at it and criticizing the crypto. Within the wake of the market’s troubles following the demise of FTX, he asserts bitcoin is a hoax and reiterates his opposition to the world’s largest cryptocurrency.

Final week on the World Financial Discussion board in Davos, Switzerland, Dimon dismissed cryptocurrencies as having no actual value.

Picture: Finance Magnates

Is It A ‘Waste Of Time?’

In an interview, he acknowledged, “I imagine all of that to be a waste of time, and I don’t perceive why you guys waste any breath on it.” The CEO famous that Bitcoin is a “hyped-up hoax” and a “pet rock.”

Whereas discussing the properties of blockchain and ledger applied sciences that JPMorgan believes can be utilized as a type of forex, he expressed skepticism that Bitcoin is actually a retailer of worth:

“How have you learnt that Bitcoin’s provide will attain 21 million? Maybe it should attain 21 million, at which level Satoshi’s picture will seem and chuckle at you all.”

JPMorgan and Dimon have embraced blockchain know-how since 2017, when JPMorgan was one in every of 86 firms that helped launch The Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, an open-source blockchain effort.

Why Many Help Bitcoin

Technololgy aficionados, libertarians distrustful of presidency financial coverage, and speculators drawn to its worth fluctuations are amongst those that favor bitcoin, although banks have primarily shied away from it since its emergence within the wake of the monetary disaster.

BTC whole market cap at $443 billion on the weekend chart | Chart: TradingView.com

Inflation remains to be considerably past the U.S. Federal Reserve’s 2% goal, and rates of interest are anticipated to surpass 5%, due to this fact Dimon has a pessimistic outlook for the American financial system this yr.

Dimon acknowledged that one of many biggest threats to the worldwide financial system is the battle between Russia and Ukraine, which has disrupted provide traces and pushed up world power prices.