Jamie Dimon has come out with some very strong statements regarding Bitcoin and cryptocurrency over the last few weeks.
From calling it a fraud to saying his employees would be fired for trading it, to lately saying it will be shutdown shortly by governments if it gets too big.
However, there is some interesting things about his remarks.
For one:
"Me thinks thou doth protest too much!"
(Meaning I think the harsh language he is using regarding Bitcoin and cryptocurrency is coming from more than just a place of his innermost beliefs)
Instead, Jamie's harsh rhetoric is coming from what he wants to happen. What he needs to happen.
He's trying to speak it into existence.
Here we have the CEO of one of the most powerful banks that has ever existed and he sees a new revolution taking place that could possible challenge his place at the top of the food chain.
Chase Bank moves money all around the world every day, something like $6 trillion dollars according to Dimon, and Bitcoin threatens to do that same thing, even more efficiently.
In that regard, Bitcoin becomes a direct competitor to Dimon and his meal ticket.
No wonder he wants it to die!
Parallels to the 90's and the internet
I look at what is happened right now as a parallel to what was happening back during the 90's with the internet. Some called the internet a fad and a bubble and something that would likely have no more use cases then that of sending and receiving an email, a novelty if you will.
Those people couldn't have been more wrong as the internet has become intricately linked to just about everything we do today.
Oops!
There was certainly a lot of chaff that came with the wheat at that time, but it was ultimately whittled away and the very best companies not only survive, but thrived.
People are making that same kind of argument about blockchain technology and how revolutionary it could be and how it could be linked and applied in so many areas of our lives going forward.
Jamie's comments don't seem targeted at the underlying technology, blockchain, but instead are targeted at Bitcoin the currency.
In this regard he could ultimately be right if a couple things happen:
- If countries around the world follow China's lead and start declaring Bitcoin illegal and start shutting down exchanges.
- If other high finance officials start talking about how they are going to boycott these currencies and start working on creating their own.
- If this current trend of acceptance starts to reverse itself and no one wants to accept Bitcoin as payment for anything.
However, a couple developments recently counter those "ifs" pretty well:
- We have already seen Japan legalize Bitcoin as legel tender, which means they would have to completely reverse course on their stance, not impossible, but not likely.
- Every week that goes by we are hearing about more and more businesses and people that are looking to accept Bitcoin for their good or service.
In fact I just read yesterday about the first house that was sold for Bitcoin.
Use cases for Bitcoin are increasing, not decreasing, which is probably the most important factor in all of this.
Conclusions:
Jamie Dimon likely has a very strong incentive to keep Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency markets from ever taking off and his comments regarding them need to be taken with a grain of salt because of this.
The odds of other countries following China's lead is very small and that is what would need to happen to really take the wind out of cryptocurrency's sales.
The old way of doing things has changed and now that a new paradigm shift is happening it will be almost impossible to stop, even for some of the world's largest governments.
The genie is out of the bottle, and will be very difficult to put back in.
Stay informed my friends.
Image Sources:
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/06/feds-kashkari-says-jpmorgans-jamie-dimon-is-dead-wrong-about-banks.html
https://www.quora.com/What-exactly-is-the-1995-2000-dot-com-bubble-in-laymans-terms
https://hackernoon.com/trump-wont-kill-america-bitcoin-will-a2be67247969
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