Governments Will Close Down Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies If They Get Too Big, Warns Jamie Dimon

The comments above & below is an edited and abridged synopsis of an article by Luke Graham

JPMorgan Chase Chief Executive Jamie Dimon has laid into Bitcoin and digital currencies, warning that governments will shut them down if they grow too large.

Dimon was concerned that with Bitcoin, Ethereum and various initial coin offerings (ICOs), there are now cryptocurrencies everywhere.

Dimon warned that governments will eventually crack down on cryptocurrencies and will attempt to control the market by threatening anyone who buys or sells Bitcoin with imprisonment, which would force digital currencies into becoming a black market.

Earlier this month he called the cryptocurrency a fraud. His comments came before a sharp sell-off in Bitcoin. The price fell from around $4,340 to as low as $2,981.05 in the days after his remarks.

Bitcoin has since recovered to around $3,640.68. Despite this volatility, the cryptocurrency’s value has risen 264% this year.

Dimon also criticized Bitcoin for not being a fiat currency formed by a government and backed by a central bank. However, Dimon did praise the technology underpinning Bitcoin—the blockchain.

“Blockchain is a technology that can be used for multiple things, including cryptocurrency. It could be used for digital dollars, and there are digital dollars already; a lot of the dollars held in our bank are digital,” he said.