JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon is well-known in cryptocurrency circles for his fierce criticism of Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), even going so far as to dub the leading coin a “fraud.”
What Happened: From announcing that he would “fire in a second” any JPMorgan trader seen trading in Bitcoin to questioning the asset’s supply limit of 21 million, Dimon’s views don’t seem to have evolved.
However, an intriguing discussion with President Donald Trump while on the campaign trail last year fueled speculations that Dimon had a change of heart.
While responding to a question about his endorsement of cryptocurrencies during a Bloomberg interview, Trump made a special reference to Dimon.
“Jamie Dimon was, you know, very negative, and now all of a sudden he’s changed his tune a little bit,” the incumbent president said.
For context, Trump had interacted with Dimon and several other business executives in a private meeting a few days before.
See Also: Eric Trump’s ‘Great Time’ To Buy ETH Backfires? Ethereum Plunges 30% Since His Buy Call
The JPMorgan CEO stated in a more recent January interview that Bitcoin lacked intrinsic value and claimed it was primarily used by criminal elements. It’s worth noting that despite these reservations, JPMorgan had a stake in Bitcoin spot exchange-traded funds, including iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (NASDAQ:IBIT) and Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (BATS:FBTC), the two largest.
However, Dimon welcomed the usage of blockchain technology and urged that the focus shift away from Bitcoin toward useful use cases enabled by blockchains.
Perhaps this was the sentiment shift Trump talked about. Or perhaps it was something else. Benzinga reached out to the White House and media contacts at JPMorgan for a comment. The story will be updated once they respond.
Price Action: At the time of writing, Bitcoin was exchanging hands at $81,784.98, up 1.92% in the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
Image via Shutterstock
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