- Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan CEO, has never been a fan of Bitcoin
- Dimon has though had some good things to say about blockchain
- What are Dimon’s past comments on the two and have they changed?
Jamie Dimon is not, it’s fair to say, a Bitcoin fan. His outbursts on television, at conferences, and in the press have been food and drink to those who, like him, think that Bitcoin has no future. With his bank, JPMorgan, rapidly expanding its use of its in-house cryptocurrency, JPMCoin, and the bank launching a Bitcoin fund, we look at several occasions when Dimon has spoken about Bitcoin in the past and what he actually said about blockchain technology to see if, indeed, he can be accused of being hypocritical.
November 2015 – Fortune Global Forum
About Bitcoin: “…there will be no real, non-controlled currency in the world.”
About blockchain: “The technology will be used. It may even be used to transport currency, but it will be US dollars.”
January 2016 – World Economic Forum (CNBC Interview)
About Bitcoin: “There’s Bitcoin, the currency, I think is going to go nowhere. There is nothing behind a Bitcoin and I think if it was big, the governments would stop it.”
About blockchain: “The blockchain is a technology which we have been studying…and yes it’s real. It has certain security measures. If it proves to be cheap and secure, it will be adopted for a whole bunch of stuff.”
January 2018 – Fox Business interview
About Bitcoin: “I regret making [the comment about calling Bitcoin a fraud]”
About blockchain: “The blockchain is real. You can have crypto-dollars in yen and stuff like that.”
October 2018 – Axios Conference
About Bitcoin: “I never changed what I said, I just regret having said it. I didn’t want to be the spokesman against Bitcoin. I don’t really give a shit, that’s the point. Bitcoin is not the same as a fiat currency.”
About blockchain: “Blockchain is real, it’s technology.”
May 2021 – Wall Street Journal Summit
About Bitcoin: “I’m not a bitcoin supporter. I have no interest in it.’
About blockchain: “Blockchain is real. We use it,”
Blockchain Fan Through and Through
As we can see, Dimon has been a fan of blockchain technology for many years. In fact, as far back as mid-2015 JPMorgan had a blockchain research team and were “aggressively” investing in the technology, according to an internal memo seen by Business Insider. So, while some may vilify Dimon for what he says about Bitcoin, what he says, and has always said, about blockchain technology can be summed up in one word – bullish.
