Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase reiterated his opposition to cryptocurrencies in a September interview.
The JPMorgan boss said to Times of India, “I think it’s foolish to borrow money for bitcoin,” “I don’t care at all about bitcoin… I’m not a bitcoin buyer.
Dimon stated that people ‘waste too much time and breathe’ on the digital asset. It has experienced a 50% increase in value year-to-date and reached an all-time high at nearly $65,000 for April. As of Monday afternoon ET, it was trading at $43,000.
However, the executive clarified that his lackluster interest was not connected to bitcoin’s possible price rise.
He told Times of India that this does not mean that it cannot go 10 times over the next five-years. “But I don’t care about that.”
He said that cryptocurrencies would be regulated as governments regulate almost everything.
Under the direction of Gary Gensler the US Securities and Exchange Commission has increased its cryptocurrency crackdown. Gensler, who called for cryptocurrencies being regulated as securities, last week called the space a “Wild West” and compared stablecoins with poker chips.
China also banned all cryptocurrency transactions last Wednesday, joining a few other countries that have banned digital assets.
Industry professionals are familiar with Dimon’s comments, who has been at bank’s helm since 2005.
He decried cryptocurrencies and warned people not to buy them. He also called on lawmakers to tighten regulation of the fast-growing, but still infancy space.
He called bitcoin a “fraud” in 2017 and threatened to fire all employees who trade bitcoin. Although Dimon later regretted the remark, Dimon said that he was still not interested in cryptocurrency.
JPMorgan was the first major bank to offer retail wealth clients access cryptocurrency funds in July 2017. This is a significant achievement for the sector.
Rival banks like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have since launched their own cryptocurrency services.