Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan is making the rounds for stating he’ll completely do away with Bitcoin and cryptocurrency if he were the Government. Dimon made this known in a Senate hearing tagged “Annual Oversight of Wall Street Firms” with other bank CEOs this Wednesday, stating that crypto is used to sponsor illicit activities because of its anonymity.
Why Did Dimon Say He’ll Shut Down Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency?
Dimon’s answer was a follow-up to Senator Elizabeth Warren’s question on why crypto is used for several illegal activities.
“Today’s terrorists have a new way to get around the Bank Secrecy Act – cryptocurrency. Last year an estimated $20 billion in illicit cryptocurrency transactions funded every kind of dangerous criminal. North Korea has funded half its missile program including nuclear weapons using proceeds of crypto crime. And Israeli officials have confirmed that Hamas received millions of dollars through crypto transactions including “large sums from Iran,” stated Warren (as a precedent to her question).
Then she went on to ask:
“Mr Dimon, you’ve been CEO of JPMorgan for almost two decades. Can you explain why crypto is such an attractive financial tool for terrorist drug traffickers and rogue nations?”
Dimon then answered swiftly in what looked like a pre-planned attack by the duo, dropping a few statements that would later trigger the cryptocurrency community.
“I’ve always been deeply opposed to Bitcoin, crypto, etc. You pointed out that the only true use case for it is criminals, drug traffickers, anti-money-laundering, tax avoidance (and that’s a huge case). Because it’s somehow anonymous… because you can move money instantaneously. Because it doesn’t go through (as you’ve mentioned before) all these systems built up over many years – know your customers, sanctions, OFAC. They can bypass all of that. If I was the government, I’ll close it down.”
Dimon has been a well-known and long-time critic of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies generally. He had earlier in January called Bitcoin a “hyped-up fraud” and a financial “pet rock” and referred to cryptocurrencies as a “waste of time” during this year’s World Economic Forum in Switzerland.
It was no coincidence that back in 2022, he said that cryptocurrencies are “decentralized Ponzi schemes” just two months to the crash of Sam Bakman-Fried’s FTX.
Senator Elizabeth Warren, herself is notable for weighing in on the crypto industry and major exchanges – pushing for the establishment and compliance to money anti-money laundering regulations. The Massachusetts senator introduced the 2023 Digital Anti-Money Laundering Act into Congress in July and is still in the first stage of the legislative process.
How Is the Cryptocurrency Community Taking Dimon’s Statement
As expected, Jamie Dimon’s anti- Bitcoin and crypto statement did not settle well with virtually every cryptocurrency enthusiast and investor out there who decided to speak up. It was like a conspiracy between Warren and Dimon to throw shades at cryptocurrencies again and trigger everyone concerned.
A popular pro-Bitcoin X (formerly Twitter) user @TheBTCTherapist had this to say about the threatening statements against cryptocurrencies:
“Jamie Dimon just got ‘community noted’ for lying about #Bitcoin primarily being used for criminal activity.
Absolutely lying to the people. He should be held accountable for lying to the public.”
Gabor Gurbacs, Strategic Advisor at Tether and VanEck, highlighted a tweet he made back in November as his reaction to the attack on crypto.
“Since 2000, regulators fined banks 7,400+ times totaling to fines of $380+ Billion, about 1/3rd of the total crypto market capitalization today.
Either banking is criminal by definition or the rules are broken. The crypto space looks like a nunnery by contrast,” said Gurbacs on X (formerly Twitter).