Jamie Dimon's Crypto Humble Pie
The long-standing boss of J.P. Morgan walked back his slam of bitcoin and other digital currencies. His climbdown is emblematic of the threat that newer technologies pose to traditional finance.
J.P. Morgan's Jamie Dimon made headlines around the world in October, when he blasted cryptocurrencies as «fraud» schemes. This week, the American CEO conceded not that he was wrong – but that he was too outspoken.
«I regret making» the statement, he told U.S. broadcaster «Fox Business» overnight. Dimon said he does believe in the underlying technology. Cryptocurrency investments have soared in Asia, mainly on the back of retail demand in Japan and South Korea. Regulators including Singapore have issued repeated warnings, and China may begin working with South Korea to enforce stricter rules, «Yonhap» reported.
Overnight, Dimon emerged with a more thoughtful view: «The blockchain is real. You can have crypto yen and dollars and stuff like that. ICO's you have to look at individually,» he told the broadcaster. «The bitcoin to me was always what the governments are gonna feel about bitcoin as it gets really big, and I just have a different opinion than other people.»
«Genius» Daughter
Dimon has likened the near-unprecedented surge in bitcoin and other digital currencies to the tulip mania in the 17th century, and even jokingly implying that his daughter had fallen for a financial scheme.
«My daughter bought bitcoin, it went up and now she thinks she's a genius,» he told «CNBC» last year. Dimon isn't the only traditional banker to slam cryptocurrencies: UBS' Axel Weber, Sergio Ermotti, DBS' David Gledhill and Credit Suisse's Tidjane Thiam have all lambasted the idea that crypto is legal tender – or even a scam.
Unlike Dimon, who walked back his comments shortly before heading to a glitzy annual confab of business and political honchos held in the Swiss alps, the Swiss bankers had expressed themselves somewhat less categorically and more diplomatically.
