In a new interview with the Times of India, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon continued his history of criticism against Bitcoin, saying “I think if you borrow money to buy Bitcoin, you’re a fool.”
The billionaire CEO has held an extremely dismissive stance on Bitcoin since the asset first emerged, largely choosing to ignore it’s long track record of stable operation, price appreciation, and demand from his own customers.
Notably, in the interview Dimon declared, “I don’t really care about Bitcoin,” and went on to describe just how little he knows about it.
“I don’t know if it’s an asset. I don’t know if it’s foreign exchange. I don’t know if it’s a currency,” Dimon said. He also suggested that regulation will constrain Bitcoin, but as to “whether it eliminates it, I have no idea and I don’t personally care. I am not a buyer of Bitcoin.”
He continued, “That does not mean it can’t go 10 times in price in the next five years.”
There are signs that Dimon is having to soften his public stance on Bitcoin, especially as funds operated by his bank begin to allocate capital to the market.
But it is clear from his many dismissive comments, that Dimon isn’t personally interested in Bitcoin.
“I learned a long time ago, figure out what you want, do what you want and be successful yourself,” Dimon stated. Dimon went on to compare Bitcoin to a speculative tulip mania, a beanie babie frenzie and internet stocks.
Dimon also commented on the economy in the wake of worldwide government lockdowns, arguing that Bitcoin is benefitting from a larger asset bubble in the global economy: “This is more a sign of the pump being primed. The spend today is 20% over what it was pre-Covid.”
The billionaire CEO also spoke candidly about the banking industry and the potential for further government involvement in the sector, “Governments should acknowledge the things they don’t do well. Like banking. If you start making loans for political purposes, they will be bad loans.”
Still, executives at JPMorgan see some potential for Bitcoin alongside the growing demand from their clients. In August, JPMorgan Chase partnered with the Bitcoin-focused institutional-grade platform New York Digital Investment Group to offer the passively managed Bitcoin fund.
At the end of August, both Wells Fargo and JPMorgan filed for passive Bitcoin funds for their wealthy clients as well, indicating that, despite Dimon’s concerns, the banking sector is responding to growing demand for Bitcoin.
