Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan, has been extremely critical of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. In early September he called Bitcoin a “fraud,” and stated that JPMorgan would fire any employee trading Bitcoin for being “stupid.” It should be noted that despite these fiery comments, JPMorgan has continued to trade Bitcoin on behalf of its clients anyway.
After his comments, Bitcoin fell sharply from around $4,340 to $2,981 but has since rebounded. More recently, Dimon clarified his claim in an interview on CNBC: “Right now these crypto things are kind of a novelty. People think they’re kind of neat. But the bigger they get, the more governments are going to close them down.”
This is because governments generally manage their currencies through central banks – something they are unable to do with cryptocurrencies. Dimon’s comments come after China’s decision to shut down all of its cryptocurrency exchanges.
Venezuela has also banned the trading and mining of Bitcoin as the government tries to get a handle on hyperinflation. Despite this, CNBC reports that Bitcoin mining is popular in the country as its cash becomes increasingly useless. However, it remains to be seen how regulation of cryptocurrencies will be applied in the United States and in Europe, and whether or not these regulations will be effective in slowing the growth of decentralized currencies.
Dimon further criticized cryptocurrencies for “creating something out of nothing,” and said that “[i]t will end badly” – comments that have come under fire from several Bitcoin investors and experts. However, one thing most people seem to agree on is the potential of the technology Bitcoin operates on: blockchain.