JP Morgan Chase Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon has backtracked on his earlier comment that Bitcoin is a fraud.
During a banking conference in Saudi Arabia in September, Dimon had caused a stir when he called Bitcoin a fraud and said he would fire any JP Morgan trader if they dealt with the most prominent cryptocurrency.
In an interview with FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo on Tuesday, Dimon said, “I regret making them. The blockchain is real.” He said the initial coin offerings, or ICO’s, must be viewed “individually”.
Regulators across the world has been voicing concern over the recent surge in cryptocurrencies. Countries such as China and South Korea, who have some of the most active cryptoasset markets, have initiated measures to curb the excessive speculation. China banned ICOs in September last year.
On Monday, South Korean financial services regulators have launched a probe into six retail banks that were offering virtual accounts to cryptocurrency exchanges, on concerns if digital currencies are being used for money laundering.
“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,” Dimon said.
“I’m not interested that much in the subject at all,” he added.
Even as traditional finance is really uneasy welcoming cryptocurrencies into the mainstream, Chicago exchanges launched futures trading in these in December.
Last week, media reports revealed that Peter Thiel, who is Paypal co-founder and an angel investor known for early bets on Facebook and SpaceX, started investing in bitcoin as early as 2012. His investments in the digital currency via the Founders Fund are reportedly worth around $15 million – $20 million.
Former hedge fund manager and now a prominent cryptocurrency investor, Mike Novogratz, said in November that cryptocurrencies would be “the biggest bubble of our lifetimes”, but asserted his confidence in blockchain. He expects the blockchain to outlast the digital currency Bitcoin, it supports.
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