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- 1 The JP Morgan executive said Bitcoin will be used by criminals for its cross-border transaction ability.
- 2 Later the CEO took the words back following the BTC price growing over 500% within a year since his comments.
The journey of the first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin (BTC), has been astonishing in every aspect. The first-of-its-kind virtual currency not only survived within the world alongside the age-old traditional financial system but went hand in hand with it in recent years. One such instance is the change of JP Morgan Chase CEO’s stance on cryptocurrency six years ago went from criticizing it to later honoring it by serving over its platform.
Chief executive officer at the prestigious banking institution JP Morgan, Jamie Dimon, gave his remarks on Bitcoin (BTC) during an interview in 2017, which was taken seriously all around.
Though the intractability, anonymity, and fast international transactions were treated as an advantage of digital assets, the bank executive thinks the opposite. Dimon called out the whole digital money system “fraud” and destined to “blow up” in the times to come given its capability to facilitate cross-border transactions.
Taking his statement ahead, he even said that given its potential, Bitcoin was worthy for people in illicit activities such as drug dealings and murders, etc. Clearly, Dimon was not in favor of digital currencies at the time, rather, he was negating the whole idea thinking of it as an evil idea.
However, it did not last and his opinion changed within no time as the BTC price saw a growth of 500% within a year since his comment.
Growth of Bitcoin Made JP Morgan CEO Take Words Back
At the time of Dimon’s criticism of Bitcoin, it was hovering at around $4,000, which surpassed the trading price of $20,000 in 2018.
Given the significant growth of the flagship cryptocurrency back then, Dimon in an interview stated that he “regret” making that comment on Bitcoin.
In addition, he supported blockchain technology stating that the technology behind the asset is “real”.
“You can have cryptodollars in yen and stuff like that. ICOs … you got to look at every one individually. The bitcoin was always to me what the governments are going to feel about bitcoin when it gets really big. And I just have a different opinion than other people.”
Bitcoin’s Journey From Ordinary to Extraordinary
Cryptocurrency was technologically significant and advanced in its time but the awareness about it spread later with time. As the information grew and more people came to know about Bitcoin, the crypto asset saw its value skyrocket akin to an asset like no other.
Currently, Bitcoin is trading at $25,900 following a slight uptick of 1% in the last seven days.
The cryptocurrency hit an all-time high of over $69,000 in November 2021, suggesting it holds the potential to set itself as a mainstream currency. However, the concerns have changed with time, the regulatory concerns and inherent volatility-like issues are awaited to be resolved.
Despite the complexities, many traditional financial players have shown interest in Bitcoin given the rising demand from investors. BlackRock, Fidelity Investments, Invesco, and several other firms have filed for spot Bitcoin ETFs with the SEC to get permission for crypto asset offerings.
With a background in journalism, Ritika Sharma has worked with many reputed media firms focusing on general news such as politics and crime. She joined The Coin Republic as a reporter for crypto, and found a great passion for cryptocurrency, Web3, NFTs and other digital assets. She spends a lot of time researching and delving deeper into these concepts around the clock, and is a strong advocate for women in STEM.
