Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, says that he does not particularly like crypto but will defend your right to invest in it. However, he sees benefits in some aspects of digital currency.
JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon on Crypto, Digital Currency
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon spoke about cryptocurrency in an interview with KMTV 3 News Now in Omaha on Friday ahead of Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholders meeting this weekend.
Commenting on cryptocurrency, including bitcoin, the JPMorgan boss said:
I always say that I don’t particularly like it. I defend your right to do so. I would say be very, very careful about the money you put into it.
However, Dimon sees benefits in some aspects of crypto, such as its technology, admitting that the banking industry has its inefficiencies. The executive opined:
Not everything is bad. If you said to me, “I want to send $200 to a friend in a foreign country,” it could take you two weeks and cost you $40. You can do this through a digital currency and it will only take you a few seconds.
“So, it’ll work out. I think it will be adopted over time by lots of players out there, including banks,” he concluded. However, he did not specify whether he is referring to cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), or his own JPM Coin.
JPMorgan Chase has its own digital currency called JPM Coin. Dimon previously described, “We use a blockchain network called Liink to allow banks to share complex information, and we also use blockchain to move US dollar deposits with JPM Coin.” JPM Coin’s website states that the coin “facilitates the real-time movement of value, helping to solve common obstacles in traditional cross-border payments.”
Dimon has long been a bitcoin and crypto skeptic. In November last year, he warned people to be careful when investing in crypto citing that it has no intrinsic value. In October, he said bitcoin was worthless and questioned its limited supply.
Meanwhile, he said in his April letter to shareholders that decentralized finance (defi) and blockchain are real. Additionally, JPMorgan now offers a number of crypto investment products.
