JPMorgan CEO slams crypto as ‘decentralised Ponzi schemes’

JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon has slammed cryptocurrencies, pointingly mentioning Bitcoin (BTC), as nothing but ‘decentralised Ponzi scheme.’

Dimon’s fresh criticism of crypto came during a US House Committee Oversight hearing on Wednesday.

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Dimon calls Bitcoin a ‘Ponzi scheme’

The JPMorgan executive, who has previously referred to Bitcoin as a “fraud,” told lawmakers that he remains sceptical about crypto and does not see how anyone can claim they are of value when billions are lost in various scams.

“I’m a major skeptic on crypto tokens, which you call currency, like Bitcoin. They are decentralised Ponzi schemes, and the notion that it’s good for anybody is unbelievable.”

Reiterating his view, he went:

“So we sit here in this room and talk about a lot of things but two billion dollars has been lost every year, 30 billion dollars. And ransomware, AML, sex trafficking, stealing…it is dangerous.”

Dimon also talked about stablecoins and the need for proper regulation of these in the United States.

According to him, stablecoins should be regulated just as are money market funds, remarks that come as a proposed bill seeks to prohibit the issuance or creation of endogenously collateralised stablecoins. As Invezz reported late July, that bill had been delayed as Congress proceeded for recess.

JPMorgan on blockchain

But while Dimon remains overly critical of bitcoin, he acknowledged blockchain is real and does have value; as are decentralised finance (DeFi), smart contracts and ledgers among other aspects of the digital assets and emerging financial technology space.

Indeed, JPMorgan has increasingly moved towards blockchain-based implementations across its financial services and continues to invest in companies and startups using the technology.

The banking giant also has a custom blockchain and in-house token – JPM Coin, which it uses as a dollar deposit and which institutional investors can tap into for collateralised short term loans.