While testifying before US lawmakers, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon referred to himself as a “huge skeptic” of “cryptocurrency tokens they call currency like bitcoin”, calling them “decentralized Ponzi schemes”.
Dimon was asked what is stopping him from being more active in the cryptocurrency space. during an oversight hearing held by the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday.
Dimon emphasized that he sees value in blockchain, decentralized finance (DeFi), ledgers, smart contracts, and “tokens that do something,” but then proceeded to lash out at cryptocurrency tokens that are identified as currencies..
When asked for his opinion on the United States stablecoin bill, Dimon said that he believes there is nothing wrong with stablecoins being properly regulated and that the regulation should be similar to that applied to money market funds..
Dimon has called bitcoin (BTC) a “fraud” in the past and has reiterated in the past that he has no interest in endorsing the sector on a personal level.. He has softened his stance on cryptocurrencies on occasion, noting that they can serve important use cases such as cross-border payments.
Despite Dimon’s views on the cryptocurrency space, JPMorgan has been dabbling in the blockchain technology space. The financial giant launched its own stablecoin, JPM Coin, in October 2020, the first cryptocurrency backed by a US bank, aimed at increasing settlement efficiency..
A week after launching the coin, the bank launched a new business division dedicated to blockchain technology called Onyx.. Since then, the Onyx platform has been used by large institutional clients to make global payments 24 hours a day.
JPMorgan also became the first major bank in the Metaverse after opening its virtual room in the world based on the Decentraland blockchain in February.. This move followed a report released by the company, which referred to the Metaverse as a $1 billion opportunity.
JPMorgan has been hiring new staff to boost the blockchain and cryptocurrency space; announced on September 9 that it has hired former Microsoft executive Tahreem Kamptom to be its chief payments executive.. Kamptom is expected to help JPMorgan explore blockchain technology, as his Linkedin bio shows that he has worked on cryptocurrency-related payment methods.
During the hearing, lawmakers also asked other top US bank managers if they had any plans to fund cryptocurrency mining.. Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan and Wells Fargo CEO Charles Scharf suggested their banks had no intention of doing so.
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