JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon described himself as a “big skeptic” of “crypto tokens that you term currency like Bitcoin” when appearing before U.S. Congress and referred to them as “decentralized Ponzi schemes.”
During an oversight hearing convened by the House Financial Services Committee on September 21, Dimon was questioned about his reasons for not becoming more active in the cryptocurrency sector.
After stressing that he sees value in blockchain, decentralized finance (DeFi), ledgers, smart contracts, and “tokens that do anything,” Dimon went on to criticize cryptocurrency tokens that refer to themselves as currencies.
When asked about his opinions on the proposed stablecoin legislation in the United States, Dimon responded that he thought stablecoins were fine as long as they were properly regulated, and that this regulation should be similar to that which applies to money market funds.
Dimon has previously stated that he has no interest in personally supporting the industry and has previously called Bitcoin a “fraud.” Occasionally, he has changed his mind about cryptocurrencies, pointing out that they potentially have significant applications, such cross-border payments.
Despite Dimon’s opinions on cryptocurrencies, JPMorgan has been actively pursuing blockchain technology. In order to improve settlement efficiency, the financial behemoth introduced its own internal stablecoin, JPM Coin, in October 2020. JPM Coin was the first cryptocurrency backed by a U.S. bank.
The bank introduced Onyx, a new business unit devoted to blockchain technology, a week after launching the coin. Large institutional clients have since used the Onyx platform for 24/7 international payments.
After opening its virtual lounge in the blockchain-based universe of Decentraland in February, JPMorgan also made history by becoming the first significant bank in the Metaverse. The action was taken in response to a research published by the company that described the Metaverse as a $1 trillion opportunity.
Tahreem Kamptom, a former Microsoft executive, was recently hired by JPMorgan to serve as its senior payments executive, according to a Sept. 9 announcement. JPMorgan has been actively recruiting new employees to advance into the blockchain and cryptocurrency field. Given that Kamptom’s Linkedin bio indicates he has experience with cryptocurrency-related payment systems, it is assumed that he will assist JPMorgan in exploring blockchain technology.
Other prominent U.S. bank CEOs were also questioned by the lawmakers about their intentions to finance cryptocurrency mining during the hearing. CEOs of Citigroup, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo have all said that their respective institutions do not have such plans, according to Jane Fraser, Brian Moynihan, and Charles Scharf.
