JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon He has been one of several financial executives who have been vocal opponents of the cryptocurrency industry for years.
While Dimon's stance has changed slightly with JPMorgan now holding Bitcoin through an ETF, his comments about the demise of the cryptocurrency sector remain relevant.
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what happened: Dimon likely made enemies in the cryptocurrency industry with his comments seven years ago.
Speaking at the Barclays Global Financial Services Conference on September 17, 2017, Dimon said: I didn't hesitate With his criticism Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and the cryptocurrency sector.
Dimon called Bitcoin “stupid” and “dangerous,” and even went so far as to call the leading cryptocurrency a fraud. He also said that if he found any of his employees buying or selling Bitcoin, he would “fire them immediately.”
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“It's against our rules and they're stupid and both are dangerous,” Dimon said at the time. Reported From Bloomberg.
During his speech, Dimon predicted that Bitcoin would crash, likening its rising value to the Dutch tulip mania of the 1600s, when the price of the bulbs reached new highs and then crashed.
“There's no way you can have a business inventing a currency out of thin air and then thinking that the people who buy it are actually clever. That's worse than tulip bulbs.”
At the time, Dimon predicted that things wouldn't turn out well for investors.
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“It's going to explode. China just kicked them out and somebody somewhere is going to lose money. Don't tell me to short it. It might get to $20,000 before that happens, but it's going to explode.”
Dimon was right about Bitcoin hitting $20,000, but has so far been wrong about the leading cryptocurrency's explosive rise.
On September 12, 2017, the day Dimon spoke, Bitcoin traded at a peak of $4,344.65. On that day, investors could buy 0.2302 BTC for $1,000.
Fast forward to today, and your $1,000 investment in what Dimon said was a scam and would be worthless is now worth $14,574.14, representing a hypothetical return of +1,357.41% over the past seven years.
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By comparison, the same $1,000 SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust Tracking the S&P 500 index (SPY) would be worth $2,278.68, which represents a return of +127.9% over the past seven years.
Why is this important: Dimon has been a long-time critic of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, and the sector has It will close in 2023.
A JPMorgan executive recently softened his stance on Bitcoin after it was reported that his bank was investing in the cryptocurrency through a Bitcoin ETF.
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Many have been wrong so far when it comes to predicting the demise of Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency sector.
While there may be risks in investing in cryptocurrencies and the sector, the same could be said about the stock market and other sectors.
BTC Price Trends: Bitcoin is trading at $63,310.79 at the time of writing, but its 52-week trading range is $26,011.47 to $73,750.07.
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This article If you had invested $1,000 in Bitcoin when Jamie Dimon said he would fire employees for holding BTC “immediately,” here's how much you'd have today Originally Benzinga
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