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JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon Praises Crypto But Billionaire Buffett Wants None

By:
Martin Young
Updated: May 2, 2022, 04:20 UTC

Crypto critic Jamie Dimon has come out with some words of praise for the technology, highlighting how inefficient the current banking system is.

JPMorgan Jamie Dimon

In this article:

Key Insights:

  • Dimon suggested that crypto transactions are far more efficient than banks.
  • Many leading Wall Street banks now offer crypto investments to their clients.
  • Billionaire Warren Buffet said he wouldn’t buy all the Bitcoin in the world for $25.

The JPMorgan (JPM) CEO has spoken out about cryptocurrencies stating that he is still not fond of them but defended investors’ rights to invest in them.

The comments came in an interview with an Omaha-metro area news channel on Friday, during which he still warned investors to be “very, very careful how much money you put into it.”

Dimon, who said that Bitcoin was worthless last year, went on to praise some of the benefits that cryptocurrencies can have over traditional banks:

“Not all of it’s bad, but if you said to me, ‘I want to send $200 to a friend in a foreign country,’ that could take you four weeks and cost you $40. You could do it through a digital currency, and it’ll take you seconds,”

Banking Adoption

The crypto skeptic added that, in his opinion, crypto would see broader adoption in the coming years, which includes banks.

“I think it will be adopted over time by lots of players out there, including banks,”

JPMorgan has its own digital currency called JPM Coin, which enables banks to move tokenized dollars and facilitate cross-border payments. However, the token has never really taken off and cannot compete with the $190 billion stablecoin market.

In August last year, the bank quietly started offering its wealth management clients access to six cryptocurrency investment funds. Goldman Sachs is also venturing deeper into crypto by offering its first-ever Bitcoin-backed loan last week, and Morgan Stanley also offers crypto investments for its private equity clients.

JPMorgan Chase reported a 42% fall in first-quarter earnings last month.

No Bitcoin For Buffet

Nanogenarian billionaire Warren Buffett is still vehemently anti-crypto. The legendary investor doubled down on his rhetoric at Saturday’s Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholder meeting.

Buffet said that Bitcoin was not a productive asset and it doesn’t produce anything tangible before adding that “it’s got a magic to it and people have attached magic to lots of things.”

He said that he would not want all the BTC in the world for $25 because the 91-year-old sees no value in it:

“Now, if you told me you own all of the bitcoin in the world and you offered it to me for $25 I wouldn’t take it because what would I do with it? I’d have to sell it back to you one way or another. It isn’t going to do anything,”

Some industry analysts saw the irony:

About the Author

Martin has been covering the latest developments in the blockchain and digital asset industry since 2017 when he made his first investment. He has previous trading experience and has worked extensively in IT over the past 2 decades.

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