Dimon attacked the top cryptocurrency again, calling it “worthless” during a virtual summit on Monday.
“Personally, I think Bitcoin is worthless, but I don’t want to be a spokesman,” he said during a virtual appearance at the Institute of International Finance Meeting, adding, “I don’t care, it doesn’t make any difference to me. I don’t think people should smoke cigarettes. “But Dimon added that his own take on Bitcoin didn’t stop the bank from allowing its customers to buy and sell the cryptocurrency … though JPMorgan Chase (JPM) even it won’t hold.
“Our customers are adults, they disagree. That is what defines markets. If they want access to buy and sell bitcoin … we can give them legitimate, clean access, ”he said.
Dimon continues to support the idea that some digital currencies running on a blockchain network have value, especially when they are so-called stablecoins that are pegged to the dollar or other government-supported currencies. The bank has its own JPM coin for payments.
Still, Dimon’s sarcastic remarks come about Bitcoin as the price of the cryptocurrency has soared to around $ 57,000 in the past few weeks. Bitcoin has almost doubled this year and is now only about 12% below its all-time high of just under $ 65,000 earlier this year.
Dimon has been a bitcoin bear for the past few years – although it has risen in value along with other cryptocurrencies.
Dimon first described Bitcoin in 2017 as a “fraud”. He added that at the time he thought Bitcoin was “stupid” and “far too dangerous”, “a bit of fool’s gold” and that “it has no intrinsic value”. (Like CNN Business, HBO is part of AT&T (T)– WarnerMedia’s own.)
Dimon also predicted that “regulators will regulate hell”.
Bitcoin has been attacking for years, but crypto continues to rise
Dimon isn’t the only financial leader skeptical of Bitcoin. Berkshire Hathaways (BRKB) Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger are also notable bitcoin bashers square (SQ) and PayPal (PYPL), as well as prominent investors like Mike Novogratz, Stanley Druckermiller and Paul Tudor Jones, have all accepted Bitcoin. Just last week, George Soros’ family office announced that it had also invested in Bitcoin.
So time will tell if Dimon is right to repeatedly question the value of Bitcoin. But its ongoing attack on the cryptocurrency seems to fall on deaf ears with investors.
“Jamie Dimon, who calls Bitcoin ‘worthless’, is nothing new and has been dumped by the market,” said Nicholas Cawley, an analyst at DailyFX, in a report on Tuesday.
Cawley added that Bitcoin has soared from about $ 4,500 to its current price of nearly $ 60,000 since Dimon described bitcoin as worse than the 17th-century Dutch tulip mania bubble.
JPMorgan Chase will announce its third quarter results on Wednesday morning. Investors will tune in to see if Dimon has any further comments on Bitcoin during the media or analyst conference calls.
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