Speaking at a bank investor conference in New York, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon called bitcoin a ‘fraud’, which will eventually blow up.
“The currency isn’t going to work. You can’t have a business where people can invent a currency out of thin air and think that people who are buying it are really smart,” Dimon said.
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“It’s worse than tulip bulbs. It won’t end well. Someone is going to get killed,” Dimon added. He pointed out to the absence of an underlying monetary base to support its value. “Currencies have legal support. It will blow up.”
If any JPMorgan trader trade in bitcoin, he said, “I’d fire them in a second. For two reasons: It’s against our rules, and they’re stupid. And both are dangerous.”
However, he differentiated between the bitcoin currency and the underlying blockchain technology, which he said can be useful and has a brighter future.
“The technology will be used, it may even be used to transport currency but it will be US dollars.”
Soon after Dimon’s comments, bitcoin fell as much as 2.7% trading at $4,106.23 in New York.
