Jamie Dimon Bashes Bitcoin While We Still Progress

Over the past couple of months, the cryptocurrency industry has gotten a lot of heat, particularly from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. While unfavorable, this overregulation from the SEC also seems slightly naive, given that the top players on Wall Street have begun moving in a direction that allows their clientele to adopt tactics that make them competitive within the industry. J.P. Morgan is one of these top players. However, shockingly two days ago, at a virtual conference hosted by the Institute of International Finance, CEO Jamie Dimon publicly came out to announce that he thought cryptocurrencies were “worthless” and he went so far as to liken the act of trading cryptocurrencies to something as harmful as “smoking cigarettes.” While the analogy Dimon uses is quite unprofessional and, needless to say, dramatic, I think that it harps on a larger point – that is, that, even though people at the top of the food chain may not be supportive of the manner in which the industry is turning, they understand that in order to stay highly competitive, they have to still sway with the winds. This is an important takeaway because it should indicate to the SEC that they too are at the whim of the public demands. While it is true that the SEC lays the groundwork for some of the most fundamental legislation that our country’s financial system operates on, there are multiple instances of precedent that indicate that the public demand exceeds in regards to the pressure placed on the polity. Two days ago, when Damon came out to say that Bitcoin was “worthless,” it shook the financial industry a bit, since it seemed odd that the bank would continue to dabble in cryptocurrency legislation. However, such behavior should not be seen as a negative, but instead with nuance, should be taken positively, since we see how it does not matter even if the key influential players in the system don’t have faith in tokens. As long as the cryptocurrency industry continues to add value, the banks with their profit-making hands tied, will undoubtedly have to follow.