Bitcoin proponents got fired up last week when JP Morgan executive Jamie Dimon called bitcoin a “fraud” and told the CNBC news outlet that cryptocurrency markets would end badly. Following Dimon’s opinions, many crypto-enthusiasts responded to the banker’s recent statements.
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Former JP Morgan Senior Executive Tells Jamie Dimon to STFU About Trading Bitcoin
JP Morgan executive Jamie Dimon is downplaying bitcoin again and this time calling the decentralized currency a “fraud.” Dimon told a CNBC broadcast that bitcoin markets would “blow up” and he would fire anyone from his team if they traded bitcoin. “It’s worse than tulip bulbs — It won’t end well,” explains Dimon to the news outlet. Following this statement cryptocurrency proponents everywhere made fun of Dimon’s opinion and reminisced on how he said relatively the same thing a few years ago.
Alex Gurevich, former JP Morgan senior executive disagreed with Dimon’s opinion stating to his Twitter followers;
Jamie, you’re a great boss and the greatest of all-time (GOAT) bank CEO. You’re not a trader or tech entrepreneur. Please, STFU about trading bitcoin.
John McAfee: Bitcoin is Certainly Not a Fraud
A few days later on CNBC’s “Fast Money” broadcast, MGT Capital CEO, John McAfee, says bankers like Dimon “are not idiots” but believed the JP Morgan executive’s opinion was wrong. McAfee is a big believer in bitcoin and even said he would cut his ‘family jewels’ on television if bitcoin didn’t spike to at least $500,000 in three years.
“You called bitcoin a fraud,” McAfee explains on the CNBC broadcast. “I’m a bitcoin miner. We create bitcoins. It costs over $1,000 per coin to create a bitcoin. What does it cost to create a U.S. dollar? Which one is the fraud? Because it costs whatever the paper costs, but it costs me and other miners over $1,000 per coin. It’s called proof of work.”
And the fact that bitcoin is consistently growing in its use and its value has to say something — Sure it will rise and fall as all new technologies are. But at the same time, it is certainly not a fraud. – John McAfee
Jeffrey Tucker: ‘Guys Like Dimon Believe They Own the System’
Bitcoin proponent and the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) Director of Content, Jeffrey Tucker believes Dimon’s statements are irrelevant. “Let’s just say that Mr. Dimon has a slight conflict of interest here — He is right to fear for the obsolescence of his job,” explains Tucker’s opinion of Dimon’s recent statement. Tucker then goes on to say;
Guys like Dimon believe they own the system — They are the great intermediaries. The masters of the monetary universe. No one gets in the system or out of the system without their knowledge and permission. So it has been for thousands of years — Bitcoin changes all that.
Dimon definitely got some attention from his recent statements regarding the bitcoin economy from mainstream media and the cryptocurrency community. Most have merely laughed at Dimon’s opinion as they have done in the past when he tried to attach little importance to the bitcoin economy. Dimon also admitted that his daughter had bought bitcoins and had gained a large profit from it, and added “now she thinks she is a genius”. It is also well known the bank he works for is running a large operation exploring the “technology behind Bitcoin”; i.e. “blockchain”.
The CEO of the Digital Currency Group, Barry Silbert, responded to Dimon’s statements as well, saying, “I hope nobody tells him that half of his executive team probably owns bitcoin.”
What do you think about the responses to Jamie Dimon’s statements towards bitcoin? Let us know in the comments below.
Images via Pixabay, Twitter, Ohio live, and FEE.
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