Jamie Dimon Claims Bitcoin Is "Worthles;" Questions Its 21 Million Supply Cap

By Keneci Channel

The JPMorgan Chase CEO who apparently does not understand how Bitcoin works, absurdly claimed Monday, that the popular cryptocurrency's supply is not really capped at 21 million units.

“I’ll just challenge the group to one other thing,” Dimon reportedly said during an address, to the Institute of International Finance. “How do you know it ends at 21 million? You all read the algorithms? You guys all believe that? I don’t know, I’ve always been a skeptic of stuff like that.”

Bitcoin was released in 2009 with open-source code showing that supply is mathematically capped at 21 million units, a feature which has made the cryptocurrency a reliable store of value. Nearly 18.9 million have been released to date, while the mining of the final 2 million is scheduled to take until around 2140.

The finite supply of the cryptocurrency makes it appealing as an inflation hedge, as no more can be created once all the 21 million coins are mined.

The banker who has been a long-time critic of cryptocurrency however said that despite his critical view of the cryptocurrency, his bank would offer clients financial instruments related to bitcoin. “I personally think that bitcoin is worthless,” Dimon said. “I don’t want to be a spokesperson. I don’t care. It makes no difference to me. Our clients are adults. They disagree. That’s what makes markets. So, if they want to have access to buy yourself bitcoin, we can’t custody it but we can give them legitimate, as clean as possible, access.”

JPMorgan quietly began offering six investment funds in August to wealthy clients interested in bitcoin and Ethereum, including four from Grayscale Investments and one from Osprey Funds.

Dimon called bitcoin a “fraud” in September 2017, when it was priced around $4,000. He said months later that he had “regrets” about the remark, though he continued efforts to dissuade consumers from purchasing it. “My own personal advice to people is, stay away from it,” he said in testimony in May before the House Financial Services Committee. “That does not mean the clients don’t want it. … I don’t smoke marijuana, but if you make it nationally legal, I’m not going to stop our people from banking it.”

While the banker may not believe in the value of bitcoin, investors have been pouring in over the last few weeks, lending the cryptocurrency a $1.1 trillion valuation as of Monday. Also as of Monday afternoon, the cryptocurrency is trading at a little over $57,000.

Bitcoin advocates and enthusiasts point out that the decentralized currency is a threat to big banks and authoritarian left-wing leaders and bankers like Dimon who want to maintain corrupt control over fiat and people's lives.