During a recent interview with Bloomberg, Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JP Morgan, reiterated his long-held belief that Bitcoin is a “public decentralized Ponzi scheme.” Dimon expressed his skepticism about Bitcoin’s potential as a currency, stating that he has always maintained his view that it lacks prospects in that regard.
In addition, Dimon called Bitcoin a fraud, saying, “if you mean crypto like Bitcoin, I’ve always said it’s a fraud.” However, he did acknowledge the value of blockchain technology and smart contracts, recognizing their potential applications. Dimon clarified that if a cryptocurrency can offer something useful like smart contracts, which hold inherent value, then blockchain technology has a purpose. He said: “to the extent crypto is accessing certain blockchain things, that might have some value.”
While Dimon sees potential in blockchain and smart contracts, he has consistently criticized Bitcoin, associating it with illicit activities such as anti-money laundering, and terrorism financing. He has previously stated that if these negative use cases cannot be resolved, regulators should intervene and shut down Bitcoin. However, this would be a challenging task considering the widespread network of over 20,000 Bitcoin nodes currently operating.
Despite Dimon’s critical stance on Bitcoin, JP Morgan has become an “authorized participant” in several spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) offered by BlackRock, Invesco/Galaxy Digital, and Fidelity. In a report released in December, a JP Morgan analyst expressed doubts about the long-term impact of Bitcoin ETFs on the market and predicted that Ethereum would outperform Bitcoin in 2024.