Jamie Dimon & J.P. Morgan Lies and Backpedals On Bitcoin and Crypto

Yesterday, 23rd Sep, JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon issued a warning on Bitcoin and crypto calling them "dangerous" and "decentralized Ponzi schemes". However, in May 2022, he stated that Bitcoin has significant upside.

I decided to make a timeline of this big bank bid for power and control, underpinned by greed and fear. I have use most of the exact quotes from the reports for accuracy.

January 2014: Dimon kicked off his career in bitcoin labelling the cryptocurrency a “terrible store of value”

November 2015: Dimon predicted a crackdown if cryptocurrencies ever got big enough. “Virtual currency, where it’s called a bitcoin vs a US dollar, that’s going to be stopped,”

October 2016: A year further in, JPMorgan launched Quorum, an enterprise-focused version of Ethereum

September 2017: Dimon went threatening to fire traders who bought the cryptocurrency.

October 2017: Dimon took a vow of silence. “I am not going to talk about bitcoin any more,” he said on an earnings call. Soon after, he broke his word: “If you're stupid enough to buy it, you’ll pay the price for it one day.”

November 2017: Despite Dimon’s threat to sack traders dabbling in bitcoin, it emerged that JPMorgan was considering whether to help its clients trade the bitcoin futures that were then still being planned by exchange giant CME Group, which launched the contracts the following month.

January 2018: Following an almighty surge in the price of bitcoin to almost $20,000 in the final month of 2017, Dimon spoke of his “regret” at calling it a fraud just months earlier. Bitcoin was trading at around $14,000 when he backtracked on that accusation.

May 2018: JPMorgan took its next dive into crypto. The bank called on Oliver Harris, then head of an in-house scheme to develop new financial technologies, to examine the potential uses of cryptocurrencies across its corporate and investment bank.

The news emerged just days after Daniel Pinto, co-president of JPMorgan, said in an interview that “cryptocurrencies are real, but not in the current form”.

October 2018: Marking the 10-year anniversary of the digital currency at a conference in Los Angeles, Dimon was back on the offensive: “I didn’t want to be the spokesman against bitcoin. I don’t really give a sh*t — that’s the point, OK?”

February 2019: JPMorgan claimed it is the first US bank to create and successfully test a digital coin representing a fiat currency.

Umar Farooq, head of digital treasury services and blockchain at the bank, said: “We have always believed in the potential of blockchain technology...

“Ultimately, we believe that JPM Coin can yield significant benefits for blockchain applications by reducing...”

Bitcoin is currently trading at around $3,500.

May 2021: At the Wall Street Journal CEO Council summit, Dimon expressed disdain for Bitcoin once again. “I’m not a bitcoin supporter… I don’t care about bitcoin. I have no interest in it.”

August 2021: JP Morgan quietly rolls out access to 5 crypto funds. Three are Bitcoin-based(one Bitcoin Cash, two OG Bitcoin) and two Ethereum-based.

October 2021: In an appearance on HBO’s Axios, Dimon said Bitcoin has “no intrinsic value.” He also added, “and regulators are going to regulate the hell out of it.” Dimon added" ...China made it illegal, so I think it’s a little bit of fool’s gold.”

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Now interestingly on the last past, Dimon called Bitcoin fool's gold on the presumption that gold is to be highly valued which we know from the 11 million ounces or 345 tons of gold they held at their vaults at the beginning of 2022. This amounts to tens of billions of dollars. Now here are the two best part:

1. JP Morgan published an article showing Bitcoin acting a lot like gold. The chart is below.

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https://preview.redd.it/ixn9l7uttsp91.png?960&format=png&auto=webp&s=08e5bac65999cfc2fc2b8c3dcf9f9ba02c0141c2

1. At the end of July this year, JP Morgan was found guilty of manipulating the gold market for years. Now we know why they like their gold. They agreed to pay US$920 million to settle spoofing allegations against it, by far the biggest fine by any financial institution accused of market manipulation since the financial crisis. Just another slap on the wrist as they probably made millions to billions in profit. For example, in 2010, 40% of all transactions in the gold market were cleared by JPMorgan. Mr Phil Streible, chief market strategist at Blue Line Futures, states, "this kind of thing has been going on for at least 15 years".

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Quote Sources:

https://www.fnlondon.com/articles/jamie-dimon-vs-bitcoin-vs-jpmorgan-a-timeline-of-tantrums-20190215

https://unchainedpodcast.com/the-timeline-of-jpmorgans-ceo-hating-on-bitcoin/

Image Source:

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/uncanny-chart-jpmorgan-shows-bitcoin-090000803.html