‘Why do we allow these things?’ Jamie Dimon Says Investing In Crypto Tokens Is Like Buying ‘Pet Rocks’
Long-time crypto skeptic Jamie Dimon, CEO of banking giant JPMorgan, has doubled down on his dislike of decentralized digital assets and crypto wallets like useless “pet stones”.
In an interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on TuesdayDimon called cryptocurrency “a complete sideshow” and said the broadcaster spent “too much time [focusing] up there.”
“Cryptocurrency doesn’t do anything, I don’t understand why people take their time [thinking about them],” he said, adding that JPMorgan “isn’t even sure that [Bitcoin] is a real market.”
“Crypto tokens are like pet rock,” he said, adding that people are just “hyping this thing up.”
Giving a warning to the American public, Dimon also pointed out that in the Bitcoin transaction there is at least $20 to $30 billion in ransoms involved and said the cryptocurrency is plagued with other corruption problems such as money laundering, terrorist financing, tax evasion and sex trafficking.
“Why are we allowing this to happen?” he asked the question. “I think the regulators that beat the banks should probably focus a little more on crypto.”
Dimon has long been a strong critic of cryptocurrencies, formerly refer to digital tokens as a “decentralized Ponzi scheme” that is “dangerous” and “not good for anyone”.
Director of JPMorgan, who refuse to call crypto assets “currency”, said in October last year that Bitcoin is “worthless”. By that time, its value had reached an all-time high.
While he doubled down on his aversion to cryptocurrencies on Tuesday, Dimon defended the blockchain technology underpinning their use, saying his opinion on the money electronic “doesn’t mean the blockchain is not real.”
JPMorgan and Dimon himself have long ago Blockchain technology advocates, with the bank being the first in the US to create and successfully test a digital currency that represents a fiat currency—in this case, the US dollar. JPM Coin, Enabled by Blockchain, Used by Banks to execute the repurchase agreement of the day.
How much will Bitcoin cost in 2023 and beyond?
Bitcoin, like all cryptocurrencies, is a risky and highly volatile investment, making it difficult to accurately predict how the market will perform in the short and long term.
The digital asset, which was trading at around $13,800 as of 7 a.m. ET on Wednesday, has lost more than 60% of its value in 2022, as a large-scale cryptocurrency sell-off widely known as “crypto winter”.
At an all-time high, Bitcoin is worth $56,580, according to figures from [hotlink]Coinbase[/hotlink].
However, Bitcoin has recovered from previous difficult years.
In 2014its value has more than halved, bringing the token trade to just $334 at the end of the year, and in 2018 it plummeted again, lost 84% of its value.
its worst loss was in 2010when it was down more than 92% from its all-time high when it was around $30.
Despite the turmoil in the market, Cathie Wood, CEO of Ark Invest, remains steadfast in her call that Bitcoin will reach 1 million USD by 2030. Meanwhile, billionaire investor and Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz still believe it will grow to a value of $500,000—but not in five years as he previously forecast.
Bitcoin price towards $5,000?
Its fall this year mirrors the broader crypto market, which hit a market cap of $3 trillion in November 2021, but now a market worth about 850 billion dollars.
The sell-off, exacerbated by the boom of major crypto exchange FTX in November, has led to speculation about whether the world is witnessing “the end of crypto,” with some foreshadowing the demise of FTX like The “Lehman moment” of the cryptocurrency market.
In a research note on Sunday, Standard Chartered’s Director of Global Research, Eric Robertsen, warned that investors could be caught off-guard by an “unexpected” drop in Bitcoin, which would causing this digital asset to drop another 70% by 2023.
Robertsen said that this would bring the value of Bitcoin down to just $5,000.
Meanwhile, JPMorgan analysts believe its bottom has yet to be reached, with the bank November prediction that it will drop to around $13,000 while the crypto market suffers “a flood of margin calls.”
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
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