Jamie Dimon said the US economy remains strong.
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Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan, likened cryptocurrencies to “pet rocks” in a CNBC interview Tuesday.
He said regulators should be focused more on the crypto industry, as opposed to big banks.
“I think crypto is a complete sideshow,” Dimon said.
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon blasted the cryptocurrency and likened the tokens to pet rocks, adding that he believes that the fallout of FTX garnered too much media attention.
“I think crypto is a complete sideshow,” Dimon said in a Tuesday CNBC interview. “Crypto tokens are like pet rocks.”
He noted that his statement doesn’t mean blockchain technology or smart contracts aren’t real, but that he doesn’t by into specific cryptocurrencies that don’t do anything.
Dimon also warned that the digital assets is used for spending on illicit activities, and that regulators should look into them.
“The other thing the American public should look at when we look at crypto, if we look at all the buying and selling…$20 to $30 billion of ransomware that we know about, $20 to $30 million of exchange costs that we know about, lots of AML, terrorism financing, tax avoidance, sex trafficking. Why do we allow this stuff to take place?”
Regulators should be focusing more on cryptocurrency rather than big banks, Dimon added.
Meanwhile, Dimon in the same interview warned that the Federal Reserve’s battle with inflation could go on for an extended stretch of time in 2023, as policymakers raise rates to 5% and keep them there for three to six months. Even at that level, the JPMorgan chief isn’t sure if that will be enough to rein in prices.