The cryptocurrency industry has come a long way over the last five years, going through two major bull runs — one in 2017 and another in 2020/2021. Each of them was followed by a bear market, with the second one still maintaining a firm grip over the prices of digital assets. However, despite the similarities, a lot has changed — primarily the stance towards crypto.
These days, institutional investors are actively participating in the digital currency market, regulators are trying to come up with the laws that would govern the industry, and companies from all over the world are launching their own blockchains, or at the very least blockchain products like metaverses and NFTs.
JP Morgan’s CEO criticizes crypto once more
While it is safe to say that the crypto world has made a big jump forward, there are still crypto skeptics who are taking shots at the industry, and one of the most recent examples is JP Morgan Chase CEO, Jamie Dimon.
Dimon was recently answering questions about blockchain technology in a House Financial Services Committee hearing on Megabanks when he openly stated that he is a huge skeptic on crypto tokens, which others name “currency.” He even mentioned Bitcoin by name, calling it, as well as all other cryptocurrencies decentralized Ponzi schemes.
He continued by adding that he thinks it is absurd that anyone thinks that they could benefit from these assets. He also cited fraud and cyberattacks that were connected to cryptocurrencies, noting that holders have lost billions of dollars due to these and similar incidents.
Dimon and the House Financial Services Committee see potential in stablecoins
According to Dimon, there is yet hope for stablecoins which could prove to be useful, assuming that proper legislations are put in place. However, that is only the case because they would be linked to the value of fiat currencies, such as the US dollar. JPMorgan does value blockchain technology, however, and since it is developing a strong connection to it, even Dimon had to admit that blockchain technology does have potential.
While Dimon’s words were quite harsh, this was not the first time he slammed cryptocurrencies which, according to him, have zero value. He previously called Bitcoin a hoax, which was something that he apologized for afterward.
As for the House Financial Services Committee, some of its members, such as the chairwoman Maxine Waters and a high-ranking member, Patrick McHenry, have certain interest in crypto. The two members have been pushing for a legislation that would regulate and legalize stablecoins n the country.
The bill that they supported would make it illegal to create and issue new endogenously collateralized stablecoins, such as Terra blockchain’s TerraUSD, which crashed earlier this year, causing significant consequences throughout the crypto industry.