In a testimony to Congress earlier this week, JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon compared cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin to Ponzi schemes.
Speaking to Congress, Dimon called himself a “major skeptic on crypto tokens” and elaborated that cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin, are “decentralised Ponzi schemes, and the notion that it is good for anybody is unbelievable.”
This is not the first instance in which the JPMorgan executive has criticised cryptocurrency, as he previously expressed his distrust in cryptocurrencies in an interview with CNBC, calling Bitcoin a “terrible store of value.” He continued that the cryptocurrency had been used frequently for “illicit purposes.”
In 2017, Dimon stated that cryptocurrency was a “fraud” that is “not a real thing, eventually it will be closed.”
While Dimon’s views on crypto are not new, it is controversial considering that JP Morgan launched their own digital currency JPM Coin in 2019, which was trialed in Bahrain earlier this year and are active in pursuing Blockchain technology.
In January 2021, Dimon commented that incumbent banks should be “scared shitless” by emerging fintechs, adding that rivals such as Plaid were competing unfairly.