JPMorgan’s CEO Jamie Dimon has reiterated he has no interest in bitcoin (BTC) in spite of the fact that his company is reportedly on the verge of launching a ground-breaking bitcoin fund.
Last month, media reports linked the firm with the imminent launch of an actively managed BTC fund that will be made available to certain clients as early as this summer, in association with NYDIG, which is said to be set to provide custody services.
But Dimon personally doesn’t seem to give two hoots about the world’s most popular crypto asset – even if it could become one of his company’s key growth engines going forward. He told the Wall Street Journal that “I don’t care about bitcoin. I have no interest in it.”
And while the CEO underlined the fact that he was no “BTC supporter,” he conceded that his customer base might have other ideas on the matter, adding, “On the other hand, clients are interested, and I don’t tell clients what to do.”
Like many other crypto-skeptics in his field, however, he does like blockchain. Which is handy – as his company operates a blockchain-powered digital token (the JPM coin).
Dimon conceded that “blockchain is real. We use it.”
However, he added a final parting shot to indicate just how he feels about BTC, and altcoins for that matter, concluding: “People have to remember that a currency is supported by the taxing authority of a country, the rule of law, a central bank.”
Dimon has gone on the record with his BTC bashing before. In 2017, CNBC quoted him as stating that BTC was a “fraud” and was “just not a real thing, eventually it will be closed.” He claimed that BTC “won’t end well.”
He had harsh words for the entire sector, in fact, stating at the Institute of International Finance, “If you’re stupid enough to buy [crypto], you’ll pay the price for it one day.”
In 2018, he appeared to have a change of heart – moving from disdain to pure apathy.
Speaking to Fox Business, he said that he “regretted” his comments, but instead said, “I just have a different opinion [about BTC] than other people. I’m not interested that much in the subject at all.”
(Photo : Money)
