JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon says “cryptocurrencies are decentralized Ponzi schemes,” but blockchain and DeFi are real

In 2017, JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon took a shot at Bitcoin, saying the world’s most popular cryptocurrency “is a fraud.” At a gathering hosted by Barclays in New York, Dimon said, “It’s just not a real thing, eventually it will be closed.”

Dimon went on to tell a group of professional investors what would happen to JP Morgan traders taking bitcoin action: “I’d fire them in a second. For two reasons: it’s against our rules, and they’re stupid. And both are dangerous.” Also, in response to a moderator question at an Institute of International Finance conference, Dimon said: “If you’re stupid enough to buy it, you’ll pay the price for it one day.”

However, in 2018, Dimon did a complete U-turn saying that he regrets calling Bitcoin a fraud. In an exclusive interview with FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo, Dimon said he regrets past comments in which he called Bitcoin a fraud at a September banking conference.

Fast forward four years later, and Dimon is back to his original position. During the House Financial Services Committee hearing with The US Congress on Megabanks today, Dimon was asked about his opinion on blockchain technology.

In his response to the US lawmakers, Dimon said he was not a skeptic when it comes to blockchain, smart contracts, Defi, etc., these are real things in which he sees benefits.

But Dimon doubled down on his earlier opinion of bitcoin saying that he’s a major skeptic on “crypto tokens or cryptocurrencies like bitcoin are nothing more than decentralized Ponzi schemes. Dimon didn’t stop there. He also alluded to affiliated fraud, rug pulls, and hacks that have resulted in crypto investors losing billions of dollars. You can watch the 2-minute clip below.

https://twitter.com/TraderDeWitt/status/1572692776151556097

When asked about the stablecoins, Dimon said there is nothing wrong with a properly-regulated stablecoin. He added that stablecoin should be treated like a money market fund.

You can watch the full hearing in the video below.