JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said blockchain will have a pivotal role in the future of finance even if bitcoin, the market-leading cryptocurrency that made blockchain famous, is not his “cup of tea.”
Speaking at the New York Times’ DealBook Conference Wednesday, Dimon reiterated JPMorgan’s support for blockchain technology as a potentially transformative financial mechanism.
“The blockchain itself will be critical to letting people move money around the world cheaper,” he said. (His bank made waves recently with the launch of its “JPM Coin” for wholesale banking payments). “We will always support blockchain technology.”
But Dimon refused to give ground on his opposition to bitcoin.
He repeated his longstanding belief that governments will ultimately more heavily regulate it (something echoed recently by fellow billionaire Ray Dalio). Oversight is inevitable for something so large, he said.
Even so, Dimon acknowledged that “very smart people” are buying into the cryptocurrency in the belief that it will outperform gold, the U.S. dollar and U.S. Treasury bonds.
“Let them do that,” he said. “It’s just not my cup of tea.”
