JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon last Wednesday, December 6, during a speech on Capitol Hill, proposed a ban on cryptocurrency in the United States.
The head of the specified financial institution, which is the largest player in the American banking sector by assets, negatively evaluates Bitcoin and its analogs, criticizing this digital currency. When questioned by Senator Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts, during a hearing before the Senate Banking Committee, Mr. Dimon said that he had always been an opponent of cryptocurrency, having a categorical position on this issue.
The head of JPMorgan claims that the only real use case for the mentioned digital money is their application in the criminal sphere. According to him, cryptocurrency is in demand among those who violate the law, in particular among drug dealers. He also says that Bitcoin and its analogs are used for money laundering and tax evasion activities. In this context, Jamie Dimon stated that he would ban cryptocurrency if he had the tools necessary to make and implement such a decision.
The media notes that the critical remarks of the head of JPMorgan against Bitcoin and its analogs were publicly declared at a time when this financial institution is actively involved in blockchain, a technology that ensures the development of an industry worth $1.6 trillion. The bank uses blockchain for various projects, including to develop its stablecoin. The financial institution predicts that JPM Coin will be able to process daily transactions worth up to $10 billion over the next two years. In October, it became known that within the framework of this bank project, daily processing of operations for $1 billion is carried out. The lender’s wholesale customers can use a digital token to make payment transactions in dollars and euros through a private blockchain network.
One of the reasons for Jamie Dimon’s negative attitude toward the crypto industry is that companies specializing in virtual assets spend large amounts of cash to promote their interests at the level of American leadership. Firms in this sphere, according to media reports, allocated $ 8.9 million for lobbying during the first three quarters of this year. In 2022, the volume of these expenses amounted to $ 6.1 million.
The statements made by Jamie Dimon during his speech to the Senate Banking Committee are not his first negative assessments of cryptocurrency in the public space. In January, the head of the largest US lender by assets described Bitcoin as a hyped-up fraud. Over time, Jamie Dimon retracted this statement. Also at the beginning of this year, the head of JPMorgan called Bitcoin a pet rock.
Under further questioning from Elizabeth Warren, Jamie Dimon and several other executives of major American banks said that the companies which operating in the cryptocurrency industry must comply with the same anti-money laundering rules as standard financial institutions. The position regarding the specified virtual money is a rare example of the unity of opinion between the mentioned senator and the heads of creditors.
Elizabeth Warren says that in matters of assessing banking policy, she most often does not share the point of view of the heads of financial institutions with multibillion-dollar assets, but noted that cryptocurrency is included in the list of topics considered in the context of national security. According to her, drug traffickers, terrorists, and rogue states should be banned from using cryptography for their dangerous activities. The senator also said that it is time for Congress to act in this direction. Elizabeth Warren called for the extension of anti-money laundering regulations to digital assets.
As we have reported earlier, JPMorgan CEO Criticizes Central Banks for Wrong Forecasts.
