JPMorgan’s long-term CEO, Jamie Dimon, once called bitcoin a “fraud,” said that it was “worthless,” and described it as a “decentralized Ponzi scheme.” Moreover, he claimed that if he were using the government, he would shut it down.
Fast-forward several years, and the banking behemoth he runs is putting traditional finance on public blockchains, accepting BTC and ETH as collateral, and, oh right, predicting that BTC could outperform stocks and gold over the next 10-15 years.
How Did We Get Here?
One of the first criticisms caught on camera from Dimon dates back to at least 2017, when he called the largest cryptocurrency a “fraud” that would eventually blow up. He added that JPM traders caught dealing with it would be fired and also compared BTC to the infamous tulip bubble. Although he later regretted using the term “fraud,” his hostile stance continued.
Four years later, Dimon advised investors to “stay away” from crypto, arguing that the asset class could not compare with fiat currencies or gold. He also described bitcoin as “worthless” and the “fool’s gold of the future.” By 2022, the rhetoric had become even stronger as Dimon described Bitcoin and other digital assets as “decentralized Ponzi schemes.” In 2023, he kept the blows coming, dismissing BTC as a “pet rock.”
The same year saw perhaps the most memorable attack. During a Senate hearing, the exec said that if he were running the US government, he would “close it down,” while claiming that cryptocurrencies were heavily associated with criminal activity.
Despite all of his criticism and blatant claims, JPMorgan’s business strategy was already moving in a very different direction. The bank launched JPM Coin, built its Onyx blockchain infrastructure, executed tokenized collateral transactions involving BlackRock and Barclays, invested in blockchain intelligence company TRM Labs, and gave wealth-management clients access to crypto funds.
Going a Step Further
The divergence between Dimon’s public comments and JPM’s commercial strategy has become even harder to ignore. The Wall Street behemoth recently let institutional clients use BTC and ETH as collateral for loans, one of its most direct integrations of native crypto assets into conventional banking.
It has also worked with Coinbase to make crypto purchases more accessible to Chase customers, while JPMorgan Securities has served as an authorized participant for BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF.
On the blockchain side, JPM has expanded into public networks, with JPM Coin (JPMD) now available on Ethereum and Base. The bank has also launched tokenized money-market funds on Ethereum and is expanding JPM Coin to the Canton Network.
The winds seem to have shifted after its report last week. Although the bank still believes BTC could be highly volatile, it predicted that the leading cryptocurrency – once referred to as “fraud” and “worthless,” is likely to outperform large-cap stocks, REITs, and gold over the next 10-15 years with a 10% annual compounded return.
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