Whereas testifying earlier than United States (U.S.) lawmakers, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon referred to himself as a “main skeptic” on “crypto tokens that you simply name foreign money like Bitcoin,” labeling them as “decentralized Ponzi schemes.”
Dimon was requested what retains him from being extra energetic within the crypto area throughout an oversight listening to held by the Home Monetary Companies Committee on Sept. 21.
Dimon emphasised that he sees worth in blockchain, decentralized finance (DeFi), ledgers, sensible contracts, and “tokens that do one thing,” however then proceeded to lambast crypto tokens that establish as currencies.
Requested for his ideas concerning the draft U.S. stablecoin invoice, Dimon mentioned he believes that there’s nothing fallacious with stablecoins which might be correctly regulated and that the regulation needs to be much like what cash market funds are topic to.
Dimon has as soon as described Bitcoin as a “fraud” and has reiterated up to now he has little interest in backing the sector on a private degree. He has softened his stance on crypto once in a while, as soon as highlighting that it will possibly serve essential use circumstances at instances reminiscent of cross-border funds.
Regardless of Dimon’s views on the cryptocurrency area, JPMorgan has been pushing into the blockchain expertise area. The monetary large launched its personal in-house stablecoin — JPM Coin in October 2020 — the primary cryptocurrency backed by a U.S financial institution, which was geared toward rising settlement effectivity.
Every week after rolling out the coin, the financial institution launched a brand new enterprise division devoted to blockchain expertise referred to as Onyx. Since then the Onyx platform has been utilized by massive institutional clients for round the clock international funds.
JPMorgan additionally turned the primary main financial institution within the Metaverse following the opening of its digital lounge within the blockchain-based world Decentraland in February. The transfer adopted a report that was launched by the agency which referred to the Metaverse as a $1 trillion alternative.
JPMorgan has been hiring new employees to push into the blockchain and crypto area, most not too long ago asserting on Sept. 9 that it has employed former Microsoft government Tahreem Kamptom to be its senior funds government. Kamptom is anticipated to assist JPMorgan discover blockchain tech given his Linkedin bio exhibits he has labored on crypto-related cost strategies.
Associated: ‘Most of crypto remains to be junk’ and lacks use case — JPMorgan blockchain head
Through the listening to, the lawmakers additionally requested different prime U.S financial institution CEOs whether or not they had plans to finance crypto mining. Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser, Financial institution of America CEO Brian Moynihan, and Wells Fargo CEO Charles Scharf all advised that their banks had no intentions of doing so.