Jamie Dimon reiterated his negative stance on Bitcoin, saying that it is the “foolish gold of the future.” He also saw that the entire cryptocurrency industry would inevitably be subject to a regulatory framework.
Bitcoin has no ‘intrinsic value’
CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co. – Jamie Dimon – He is, by all means, a critic of cryptocurrency. During a recent interview with HBO, he gave reasons for being against the asset class.
He has scratched the hot topic around China’s blanket ban on bitcoin mining and trading. Dimon believes that this move proves that BTC is illegal. As such, people should not consider it digital gold:
“I’ve always thought it would become illegal somewhere like China makes it illegal, so I think it’s a bit of foolish gold.”
With this view on gold and bitcoin, Dimon stands up against many other notable names who have supported the cryptocurrency due to its similarity to the yellow metal but also due to some of its merits.
These included Michael Saylor, Steve Wozniak, and Shamath Palihapitiya – all of whom saw bitcoin as a better asset than gold due to its known cap and digital presence.
The JPMorgan CEO also urged US regulators to regulate bitcoin because he believes the leading digital asset’s primary use is in illicit activities:
“Yeah… if people were using it for tax evasion, sex trafficking and ransomware, it would be regulated, whether you like it or not. So it’s not a moral statement. It’s a factual statement.”
Thus, Dimon joined the list of people who allege that Bitcoin is mainly used for illegal transactions. However, this belief is not entirely accurate as many reports have claimed that cash is still the most widely used form of payment for bad actors. In addition, the BTC blockchain is transparent as all transactions are recorded on it.
JPMorgan has jumped on the crypto bandwagon
Despite the hostile attitude toward cryptocurrency from its CEO, multinational investment bank JPMorgan Chase & Co. Recently in providing digital asset services to clients.
At the end of July, Mary Callahan Erdos, director of asset and wealth management at the institution, noted that most bank users view bitcoin as an asset class. They have also shown a growing demand for opportunities related to cryptocurrencies and the bank will work in that direction.
“A lot of our clients say, ‘This is an asset class, and I want to invest,’ and our job is to help them put their money where they want to invest.”
Soon, the largest bank in America gave its institutional clients access to six cryptocurrency funds. One of them – a new bitcoin fund created by digital asset firm NYDIG – is only available to private bank clients.
Featured image courtesy of American Banker
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