JPMorgan CEO Calls Bitcoin a “Fraud” And “Ponzi Scheme”

Ali Raza
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The CEO of JPMorgan Chase, Jamie Dimon, has continued his criticism of the largest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, saying that it is a “fraud” and “Ponzi scheme.”

Dimon was speaking in an interview with Bloomberg TV, where he once again expressed his dislike for Bitcoin. He noted that the largest crypto by market capitalization did not have the features needed to function as a currency.

JPMorgan CEO Slams Bitcoin

Dimon noted that crypto such as Bitcoin has always been a fraud, and there was no hope that it would evolve into something more.

“Crypto, if you mean crypto like Bitcoin, I’ve always said it’s a fraud. If they think there is a currency, there’s no hope for it. It’s a Ponzi scheme, it is a public decentralized Ponzi scheme,” Dimon said.

Dimon has also dismissed that Bitcoin could have more use cases beyond it being a speculative asset. He said that those who view the asset as legitimate were not informed.

It is not the first time that Dimon is criticizing BTC. Over the years, he has expressed skepticism over the cryptocurrency. He has also raised concerns about the volatility of Bitcoin, while also saying there is a lack of regulations in place to protect the ones investing in the currency.

Nevertheless, Dimon acknowledged that Bitcoin has amassed popularity in the traditional financial industry. Nevertheless, he remains firm that the king of crypto could gain relevance and possibly replace fiat or assets such as Bitcoin.

Earlier this year, Davos was speaking at the World Economic Forum where he said that he would no longer discuss Bitcoin. At the time, he said that Bitcoin was similar to a “pet rock.”

Wall Street Embraces Bitcoin

Dimon’s recent take on Bitcoin comes despite the increased adoption of this currency on Wall Street. BlackRock and Fidelity, two of the largest institutions on Wall Street are offering spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). JPMorgan is also named as one of the participants in BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF.

Despite criticizing Bitcoin as a currency or an investment asset, Dimon believes that blockchain technology has a role to play in finance. He noted that this technology enables efficient transactions and data transfer.

Dimon also remains optimistic about smart contract applications enabled by blockchains such as Ethereum. Smart contracts facilitate the execution of financial transactions seamlessly without financial intermediaries.

“If it’s a crypto coin that can do something like, you know, a smart contract that has value, there will be smart contracts and blockchain works,” Dimon said.

Despite his optimism around Ethereum, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) remains hesitant to approve spot Ethereum ETFs.

About Ali Raza PRO INVESTOR

Ali is a professional journalist with experience in Web3 journalism and marketing. Ali holds a Master's degree in Finance and enjoys writing about cryptocurrencies and fintech. Ali’s work has been published on a number of leading cryptocurrency publications including Capital.com, CryptoSlate, Securities.io, Invezz.com, Business2Community, BeinCrypto, and more.