Jamie Dimon's Concluding Remark on Cryptocurrency: Accepting the Legitimacy of Blockchain

On Wednesday's outskirts of the World Economic Forum, Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, declared that Bitcoin is useless. He also called it a pet rock.

Dimon and Bitcoin History

Jamie Dimon has always expressed his disinterest in bitcoins. He is a prominent critic who, in 2021, said that bitcoins were all worthless when they were at their peak. He continued his sentiments in Davos, Switzerland, again calling it a “hyped-fraud.” He even once said he would ban all crypto-currencies if he had the charge.

He mentions that cryptocurrencies are divided into two categories. One that does something when traded or exchanged as an asset of value. The other, that will accomplish nothing. He later named Bitcoin in the second category. He continued by stating that this crypto has been used for fraud, money laundering, sex trafficking, tax avoidance, and many other crimes related to finance.

Impact of His Views and Current ETF Approval

His perspective moves farther from the general consensus on Wall Street, where crypto confidence has steadily increased. The most recent example is the approval of spot bitcoin ETFs by some of the most prominent asset managers, such as Fidelity and BlackRock.

However, Dimon isn't any more accommodating due to those ETF offerings. In his words, "I don't care, so just please stop talking about this shit." He continued that it would be the last time he would talk about Bitcoin publicly and advised investors to stay away from it.

He said, “My last statement – the last time I ever talked on Bitcoin – is I defend your right to do Bitcoin. I think it's okay. I don't want to tell you what to do. My advice would be don't get involved.”

Bitcoin Current Price

Since the 11 ETFs were approved, Bitcoin has seen a price surge. As of 22nd Jan 2024, it is priced at $41,126.74. 

Bitcoin uptrend graph on a crypto app

Despite his views on Bitcoin, Dimson still considers Blockchain Technology a valuable asset. He said, "Blockchain is real. It's a technology. We use it. It's going to move money, it's going to move data. It's efficient. We've been talking about that for 12 years, too, and it's very small."