Long time cryptocurrency skeptic Jamie Dimon, CEO of banking giant JPMorgan, has doubled down on his dislike of decentralized digital assets and likened crypto to useless “pet rocks.”
In an interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Box” show on Tuesday, Dimon referred to crypto as “a complete sideshow” and said the broadcaster spends “too much time [focusing] on it.”
“Cryptocurrencies that don’t do anything, I don’t understand why people spend any time [thinking about them],” he said, adding that JPMorgan was “not even sure that [Bitcoin] is a real market.”
“Crypto tokens are like pet rocks,” he said, adding that people were just “hyping this stuff up.”
Issuing a warning to the American public, Dimon also pointed out that in the trading of Bitcoin there was at least $20 to $30 billion of ransomware involved, and said the cryptocurrency was plagued with other corruption problems like money laundering, terrorism financing, tax avoidance and sex trafficking.
“Why do we allow this stuff to take place?” he questioned. “I think the regulators that have beat up on banks should maybe focus a little more on crypto.”
Dimon has long been a vocal critic of cryptocurrencies, previously referring to the digital tokens as a “decentralized Ponzi scheme” that is “dangerous” and “not good for anybody.”
The JPMorgan chief, who refuses to refer to crypto assets as “currencies,” said in October last year that Bitcoin was…
