Jamie Dimon Attacks Crypto Tokens as ‘Decentralized Ponzi Scheme’ But He’s Happy With Regulated Stablecoins

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Jaroslaw Adamowski

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Jaroslaw Adamowski

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June 26, 2023

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Jamie Dimon, the chairman and CEO of Wall Street investment bank JPMorgan, has taken another swing at cryptocurrencies, with a particular focus on bitcoin (BTC), telling the U.S. Congress that cryptos were “decentralized Ponzi schemes”. At the same time, Dimon said he accepts the added value of blockchain, decentralized finance (DeFi), “tokens that do something”, and regulated stablecoins.

The latest development confirms the banker’s reputation among crypto industry observers, many of which see him as a legacy finance advocate willing to go to lengths to blast cryptocurrencies. In his recent testimony before Congress, Dimon told a lawmaker he is “a major skeptic on crypto tokens, which you call currency, like bitcoin,” as reported by Bloomberg.

Last October, Dimon criticized bitcoin, saying his personal view on the top crypto was that it was “worthless.” The executive did, however, add that JPMorgan’s clients were “adults,” and he was prepared to give them “as clean as possible access” to the coin – although his firm couldn’t currently “custody” BTC.

In line with the stance he recently presented to American lawmakers, the banker wrote in his April 2022 letter to JPMorgan’s shareholders that “[d]ecentralized finance and blockchain are real, new technologies that can be deployed in both public and private fashion, permissioned or not.”

In 2020, JPMorgan ventured into the blockchain sector by launching its own token, JPM Coin, designed by the financial giant to instantly settle payments between institutional clients.

Earlier this year, the bank also unveiled its focus on the metaverse, claiming that “when you think about the economics of the metaverse—or metanomics—there are opportunities in almost every market area” and it will also provide “a massive opportunity for business-to-business enterprises.”