Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, compared cryptocurrency tokens to pet rocks. Additionally, the CEO thinks that regulation of cryptocurrencies has to be enhanced, saying that "the regulators who beat up on banks should maybe focus a little more on crypto."
Following the failure of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, JPMorgan Chase's chairman and CEO, Jamie Dimon, spoke with CNBC Tuesday about cryptocurrency and regulations.
He was asked if he thought the FTX crash was isolated and unimportant or if he thought it was a sign of anything more significant taking place in the economy. The head of JPMorgan said:
“Crypto is a complete sideshow, okay, and you guys spend too much time on it. I’ve made my views perfectly clear about crypto tokens are like pet rocks, and people are hyping this stuff up.”
Pet rocks were introduced in 1975 and are simply rocks packaged in unique cardboard boxes. The pet rock craze lasted around six months and saw the sale of over one million rocks for $4 each. The JPMorgan CEO expressed his opinion in response to regarding the U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen's claim that the FTX collapse was "a Lehman moment within crypto", he stated:
“I don’t think she meant a Lehman moment … Crypto is worth a trillion dollars.”
Dimon concurs that stronger regulation of cryptocurrencies is necessary. He continued by emphasizing:
“The other thing the American public should look at … if you look at all the buying and selling, so if bitcoin is worth like under a trillion dollars today, and we’re not even sure that is a real market by the way, that 20 to 30 billion of ransomware a year that we know about, 20 to 30 billion of exchange costs that we know about, lots of AML anti-terrorism financing, tax avoidance, sex trafficking, in which what why we allow this stuff to take place. I think, you know, the regulators who beat up on banks should maybe focus a little more on crypto.”
Dimon downplayed the importance of cryptocurrencies while restating his support for blockchain technology, saying:
“That doesn’t mean blockchain is not real. That doesn’t mean smart contracts won’t be real or Web 3.0 but crypto currencies that don’t do anything, I don’t understand why people are spending time.”
Dimon has always criticized cryptocurrencies like bitcoin. He has claimed that bitcoin is worthless and has cautioned individuals to exercise caution when investing in cryptocurrencies noting the fact that they have no inherent value, telling Congress in September that crypto tokens like bitcoin are "decentralized Ponzi schemes." He personally encouraged investors to "stay away" from cryptocurrencies in May of last year. While Dimon remains dubious about cryptocurrencies, his investment bank, JPMorgan, has been providing clients with a variety of cryptocurrency investments.
