JPMorgan Chase Head on Bitcoin Buyers: 'They're Stupid'

Jamie Dimon predicts big losses for the digital currency
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 13, 2017 2:07 PM CDT
JPMorgan Chase Head on Bitcoin Buyers: 'They're Stupid'
Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, discusses his Annual Letter to Shareholders on Tuesday, April 4, 2017 at the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America in Washington, DC.   (Paul Morigi/AP Images for JPMorgan Chase)

Jamie Dimon says he would fire any employee caught trading bitcoin "in a second," the Guardian reports. "It’s against our rules, and they’re stupid. And both are dangerous," the head of JPMorgan Chase said at a conference Tuesday. According to Reuters, bitcoin dropped 10% on Wednesday in the wake of Dimon's tirade against the cryptocurrency, which he called a "fraud." "It's just not a real thing," CNBC quotes Dimon as saying. "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," he added.

Dimon did admit there's a "limited market" for bitcoin: drug dealers, murderers, and countries like North Korea. Regardless, he said the digital currency "will eventually blow up" and people who invested in it will lose big. It's a harsh prediction considering Dimon's own daughter bought bitcoin. "She thinks she's a genius now," he said. Bitcoin had increased more than 300% this year and hit an all-time high of just under $5,000 to start the month. However, one expert in investment strategy tells Reuters that Dimon's comments Tuesday "could have been the tipping point" for bitcoin, which was already struggling after China banned the issuance of new digital coins for fundraising last week. (More bitcoin stories.)

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