After comparing Bitcoin to a “Ponzi scheme” on multiple ocassions, Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, has continued to express his disapproval of Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies.
On January 19, Dimon was asked about his most recent position on cryptocurrency during a segment on CNBC. In response, he questioned why the panelists were wasting “any breath” talking about the issue before calling the leading digital asset a “hyped-up fraud” and a “pet rock.”
However, he also discussed the benefits of blockchain and ledger technology that JPMorgan believes may be used to create money. Still, he also questioned if Bitcoin is truly a store of value or as scarce as it is claimed to be.
“How do you know it [Bitcoin] is going to stop at 21 million? Maybe it’s going to get to 21 million, and Satoshi’s picture is going to come up and laugh at you all.”
JP Morgan recently said it would develop a cross-border solution using the blockchain. JPMorgan’s Onyx blockchain and payments program offers Liink, a network created primarily for international trade. Institutions can exchange financial information and confirm transactions using a platform provided by Onyx.
The partnership between Visa and JPMorgan and its suite of blockchain technologies is an alternative to the widely used by Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) messaging system.
While citing JPMorgan’s Onyx platform for wholesale payments, Dimon agreed that certain “real” components of blockchain exist at an event for the Institute for International Finance (IIF).