Jamie Dimon, the Chairman and CEO of leading American multinational investment bank JPMorgan Chase, has come out to bash Bitcoin (BTC/USD) again. In a recent interview with Axios’ CEO, Jim VandeHei, Dimon said BTC does not have intrinsic value and that regulators would tighten their clampdowns on it.
Nonetheless, he believes the flagship cryptocurrency will be around for a long time.
Commenting on China’s recent blanket ban on cryptocurrencies, Dimon said he always believed that one or more jurisdictions would make it illegal. With his prediction coming true, the JPMorgan executive said he thinks BTC is a little bit of fool’s gold.
Responding to VandeHei’s question on whether regulators should introduce strict measures to rein in the crypto sector, Dimon said the government would have to regulate the industry if people keep using digital assets for tax evasion, sex trafficking, and ransomware.
He added that governments should regulate the crypto sector because it does not make sense to oversee everything banks do regarding money transfers and fail to supervise cryptos, which many consider money.
US government ramps up efforts to regulate crypto
This news comes as US regulators continue searching for avenues to govern the crypto space. For instance, the Biden administration announced that it seeks to offer up to $10 million in bounties in exchange for information that can help it combat crypto-related ransomware attacks.
On top of this, the government formed a task force to monitor the flow of funds obtained from illicit activities.
The SEC is also trying to formulate guidelines to regulate the burgeoning asset class. While Gary Gensler, SEC’s Chair, claims the crypto sector is rife with fraud, scams, and abuse, he said the agency only seeks to introduce enough investor protection in crypto finance, issuance, trading, or lending.
The Federal Reserve is also gunning for cryptocurrency regulation, with a keen focus on stablecoins. According to Jerome Powell, the Chair of the US Federal Reserve, the regulator does not intend to ban crypto like the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) did. However, he emphasized that stablecoins need regulating because some like Tether (USDT) are not fully backed by cash.
Despite China’s ban and Dimon’s negative sentiments, BTC has made a significant comeback after gaining 5.59% in 24 hours and 21.08% over the past seven days. These gains have seen the coin revisit the $50,000 level once again, and is changing hands at $50,170.85 (£36,797.81) at the time of writing.
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