Dimon as soon as once more attacked the highest cryptocurrency, calling it “worthless” throughout a digital summit Monday.
“I personally think bitcoin is worthless, but I don’t want to be a spokesperson,” he mentioned throughout a digital look on the Institute of International Finance Meeting earlier than including, “I don’t care, it makes no difference to me. I don’t think people should smoke cigarettes.”
But Dimon added that his personal tackle bitcoin has not stopped the financial institution from permitting its clients to purchase and promote the cryptocurrency…regardless that JPMorgan Chase (JPM) itself won’t maintain it.
“Our clients are adults, they disagree. That’s what makes markets. If they want access to buy and sell bitcoin…we can give them legitimate, clean-as-possible access,” he mentioned.
Dimon additionally continues to help the concept that some digital currencies that run on a blockchain community do have worth, particularly if they’re so-called stablecoins pegged to the greenback or different government-backed currencies. The financial institution has its personal JPM Coin for funds.
Still, Dimon’s sarcastic remarks about bitcoin come as the worth of the cryptocurrency has surged in latest weeks to about $57,000. Bitcoin has practically doubled this 12 months and is now solely about 12% under the all-time excessive of slightly below $65,000 earlier this 12 months.
Dimon has been a bitcoin bear for the previous few years — regardless of that it has soared in worth together with different cryptocurrencies.
Dimon first called bitcoin a “fraud” in 2017. He added on the time that he thought bitcoin was “stupid” and “far too dangerous.”
More lately, Dimon mentioned throughout an look on the Axios HBO present earlier this month that bitcoin was “a little bit of fool’s gold,” and that “it’s got no intrinsic value.” (HBO, like CNN Business, is part of AT&T (T)-owned WarnerMedia.)
Dimon additionally predicted that “regulators are going to regulate the hell out of it.”
Attacking bitcoin for years however the crypto retains climbing
Dimon is not the one high monetary voice to be skeptical of bitcoin. Berkshire Hathaway’s (BRKB) Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger are notable bitcoin bashers too.
But an rising variety of high monetary tech companies, similar to Square (SQ) and PayPal (PYPL), in addition to distinguished traders like Mike Novogratz, Stanley Druckenmiller and Paul Tudor Jones, have all embraced bitcoin.
Just final week, the household workplace of George Soros disclosed that it has invested in bitcoin too.
So time will inform if Dimon winds up being proper to repeatedly query bitcoin’s worth. But his continued assault on the cryptocurrency appears to be falling on deaf ears with traders.
“Jamie Dimon calling Bitcoin ‘worthless’ is nothing new and has been shrugged off by the market,” mentioned Nicholas Cawley, analyst at DailyFX, in a report Tuesday.
Cawley added that since Dimon referred to bitcoin as being worse than the Dutch tulip mania bubble of the 1600s 4 years in the past, bitcoin has surged from about $4,500 to its present worth approaching $60,000.
JPMorgan Chase will report earnings for the third quarter Wednesday morning. Investors might be tuning in to see if Dimon has any extra selection feedback about bitcoin throughout both the media or analyst convention calls.
