For the second time, in a matter of weeks, Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, has spoken out against cryptocurrencies and bitcoin.
In an interview with CNBC-TV18 in New Delhi, India, Dimon said:
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.
Earlier this month, Dimon called bitcoin ‘a fraud‘ adding that he would fire any employee found trading in the cryptocurrency. Known for his complete disregard toward the digital currency, back in 2015, Dimon claimed that bitcoin was ‘a waste of time.’
His comments have attracted strong criticism from industry leaders outside of the crypto space. Alex Gurevich, former JPMorgan executive and head global macro, told Dimon:
Jamie, you’re a great boss and the greatest of all-time (GOAT) bank CEO. You’re not a trader or tech entrepreneur. Please, STFU about trading bitcoin.
Despite this, though, it doesn’t appear he’s taking the advice. So much so, that Dimon is of the opinion that governments will eventually crack down on cryptocurrencies and those trading them.
This has been the case with China. Already Chinese exchanges such as BTCC, ViaBTC, OKCoin and Huobi have said they will be suspending their domestic services.
Creating Money Out of Thin Air
For Dimon, though, the biggest issue appears to be producing money from nothing.
He said:
Creating money out of thin air without government backing is very different from money with government backing.
He added that creating something out of nothing is, to him, ‘worth nothing.’
Interestingly, in an interview with the Economic Times, Dimon said that he wasn’t against digital currencies, but that nations prefer central banks to control their money.
He clarified:
They like to know who has it, where it is going and why is it going there. And that is not bitcoin.
At the time of publishing, bitcoin is trading at $3,633, a 5.60 percent drop over a 24-hour period, according to CoinMarketCap.