JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon is famous for his bombastic bitcoin bashing, but the vocal bitcoin critic had been largely silent on the flagship cryptocurrency over the course of the past two months.
Jamie Dimon Remains Skeptical of Bitcoin
However, he broke that silence this week, issuing a short, muted statement that indicated he has not altered his view of bitcoin or other public, decentralized cryptocurrencies.
“Look, everyone has a personal opinion about Bitcoin. I remain highly skeptical of it. But as I’ve said previously, I’m open-minded to uses of cryptocurrencies if properly controlled and regulated,” Dimon told CNBC in a statement.
This appears to be the first time Dimon has spoken publicly on bitcoin in approximately two months. Earlier in the year, he drew headlines by calling bitcoin a “fraud” that is “worth nothing” and only purchased by “stupid” investors.
In mid-October, Dimon vowed to stop talking about bitcoin — a promise that lasted exactly one day. However, following that brief relapse, he had remained largely silent on bitcoin throughout November and early December, perhaps due to the 200 percent rally that bitcoin assembled in the intervening period.
‘Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is’
However, now — unlike then — Dimon has the ability to demonstrate the sincerity of his bearish outlook by shorting bitcoin because CBOE launched bitcoin futures products earlier this week. Thus far, however, it does not appear that Dimon, or anyone for that matter, has taken up significant short positions in the CBOE markets.
Commenting on this fact, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss — co-founders of cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, whose daily auction price is used as the basis for CBOE’s futures — encouraged Dimon to “put his money where his mouth is,” so to speak.
“We’re just waiting for Jamie Dimon. Put your money where your mouth is,” the Winklevoss twins said, according to a Bloomberg analyst.