Jamie Dimon, CEO of banking giant JPMorgan and a long-time crypto skeptic, has doubled down on his dislike of decentralized digital assets, likening crypto to useless “pet rocks.”
In an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Tuesday, Dimon called cryptocurrency “a complete sideshow” and said the broadcaster “wastes a lot of time.” [focusing] on him.”
“Cryptocurrencies that do nothing, I don’t understand why people spend time [thinking about them],” he said, adding that JPMorgan “isn’t even sure about that [Bitcoin] is a real market”.
“Cryptotokens are like pets,” he said, adding that people are just “passionate about these things.”
Warning the American public, Dimon also pointed out that there is at least $20-30 billion in ransomware in Bitcoin trade, and said that the cryptocurrency suffers from money laundering, terrorist financing, tax evasion and other corruption problems. sex trafficking.
“Why do we allow these things to happen?” asked a question. “I think the regulators who are beating up the banks should pay a little more attention to cryptocurrency.”
Dimon has long been a vocal critic of cryptocurrencies, previously referring to digital tokens as a “decentralized Ponzi scheme” that is “dangerous” and “good for no one.”
The JPMorgan chief, who refuses to call cryptocurrencies a “currency,” said last October that Bitcoin was “worthless.” At the time, its value was nearing an all-time high.
Although he doubled down on his disdain for cryptocurrencies on Tuesday, Dimon defended the blockchain technology that underpins their use, saying his views on crypto “doesn’t mean blockchain isn’t real.”
JPMorgan and Dimon themselves have long been proponents of Blockchain technology, with the bank being the first company in America to create and successfully test a digital coin that represents fiat currency – in this case, the US dollar. Blockchain-enabled JPM Coin is used by the bank to execute intraday repurchase agreements.
What will Bitcoin be worth in 2023 and beyond?
Bitcoin, like all cryptocurrencies, is a risky and highly volatile investment, making it difficult to accurately predict how the market will play out in the short and long term.
The digital asset, which traded at around $13,800 at 7 a.m. ET on Wednesday, has lost more than 60% of its value in 2022 as cryptocurrencies around the world suffer from a widespread sell-off known as “crypto winter.”
According to the figures, the all-time high Bitcoin was worth $56,580 [hotlink]Coinbase[/hotlink].
However, Bitcoin has recovered from the previous difficult years.
In 2014, its value more than halved, leaving the token trading at just $334 by the end of the year, and in 2018, it nosedived again, losing 84% of its value.
Its worst loss was in 2010, when it lost more than 92% from its then all-time high of $30.
Despite the market turmoil, Ark Invest CEO Kathy Wood stuck to her call for Bitcoin to reach $1 million by 2030. five years as previously predicted.
Bitcoin price close to $5000?
Its decline this year reflects the broader cryptocurrency market, which reached $3 trillion in November 2021 but is currently worth about $850 billion.
The sell-off, exacerbated by the implosion of major cryptocurrency exchange FTX in November, has fueled speculation that the world is witnessing the “end of cryptocurrency,” with some heralding the collapse of FTX as a “Lehman moment.”
In a research note on Sunday, Eric Robertsen, Global Head of Research at Standard Chartered, warned that investors could be caught off guard by a “surprise” Bitcoin crash in 2023 that could send the digital asset down another 70%.
Robertsen said this would reduce the value of Bitcoin to just $5,000.
Meanwhile, analysts at JPMorgan believe the bottom is yet to be reached, with the bank predicting a fall to around $13,000 in November as the cryptocurrency market suffers from a “cascade of margin calls”.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
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