Cryptocurrencies are dangerous “Ponzi schemes” that put billions of dollars at risk every year, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon declared in a scathing review of the volatile digital assets.
In congressional testimony on Wednesday, Dimon referred to himself as “a major skeptic” on cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.
“They are decentralized Ponzi schemes, and the notion that’s good for anybody is unbelievable,” he told lawmakers, calling Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies “dangerous.”
Bitcoin, which was hovering just above $19,000 at 6:45 a.m. ET on Thursday, has lost more than half its value in 2022, as cryptocurrencies across the board have suffered a widespread selloff that’s become known as the “crypto winter.”
House meeting
The U.S. House Committee on Financial Services held a hearing on Wednesday in which representatives from major American banks including Citigroup, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo gave evidence. The committee’s chairwoman, Maxine Waters, and ranking member Patrick McHenry are currently developing a bill on regulating stablecoins—a digital asset class that’s tied to the value of an asset like the U.S. dollar.
Under the most recent draft of the bill, seen by Bloomberg, it would be illegal to issue or create new “endogenously collateralized stablecoins” like TerraUSD, which collapsed earlier this year in one of the largest ever crypto bankruptcies ever.
Dimon said in his testimony to the House on Wednesday…
