JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon came out swinging against cryptocurrencies today, delivering one of the harshest critiques to the emerging sector. While attending and speaking at a Barclays PLC (ADR) (NYSE: BCS) banking conference, Dimon compared Bitcoin’s monstrous surge to the 17th century tulip bulb mania, which is widely considered to the classic example of a bubble.
“Bitcoin will eventually blow up. It’s a fraud. It’s worse than tulip bulbs and won’t end well,” said the JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief. Adding, he would fire any trader that traded Bitcoin for being “stupid.” Even at CNBC’s Delivering Alpha conference on Tuesday, Dimon continued to reiterate “Bitcoin is not a real thing and it’s solely speculative and that there’s no need for it in the US.”
Dimon’s comments are just the latest round of “cold water” being thrown on the red-hot cryptocurrency market. On Monday, September 11, 2017, China announced it will be shutting down domestic Bitcoin exchanges, as the country ramps up regulation. “With China nothing is ever certain and a lot is left to be desired in terms of translation and interpretation. Rumors are that the Chinese are looking to ban Bitcoin again and ring-fence their fiat Yuan from the crypto world. The fears of capital outflows, as well as money laundering, are causing the Chinese state to ratchet the rhetoric,” details Charles Hater, Founder and CEO of Crypto Compare.
As of Friday, September 8, 2017, Bitcoin traded at a peak price of $5,000. However, after China’s latest crackdown on Monday and Jamie Dimon’s comments on Tuesday, Bitcoin now trades at $4,128.91.
While Jamie Dimon has some harsh cryptocurrency advice, it is hard to deny the breath-taking rise of Bitcoin and overall digital currency market. Regulators, Wall Street, and Main Street are continuing to adjust to the idea of cryptocurrency and how its use impacts the economy. However, several recent forecasts and reports have concluded that cryptocurrencies will only continue to be a growing part of our society in the future.
