Jamie Dimon is crypto’s most boring villain

Even though he’s head of one of America’s largest banks, Dimon doesn’t wield any kind of real power over crypto — so why can’t he shut up about it?

OPINION
article-image

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon| lev radin/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

share

Jamie Dimon is back in the news again talking about bitcoin — but he pinky promises that it’s for the very last time, really.

The JPMorgan Chase CEO gave his regular crypto spiel to CNBC at Davos (again) today: He loves blockchain and smart contracts, and thinks bitcoin is useless. As Dimon puts it, bitcoin is just a “pet rock” (something he’s said at least twice on record in the past few years).

While Dimon’s often-profanity laced views on bitcoin are nowhere near as vitriolic as, say, Charlie Munger — who called trading bitcoin “harvesting baby brains” — or Warren Buffett — who called bitcoin “rat poison squared” — he’s still made the news countless times for his little bitcoin soundbites. 

I should know: I’ve been covering what Jamie Dimon has said to the media about bitcoin for six years now, back when I used to capitalize “Blockchain.” 

But unlike January 2018, when what JPMorgan did with crypto seemed to have a whole lot more sway — Dimon’s anti-bitcoin comments just don’t have that much bite anymore. The crypto space has moved on from villainizing Dimon and his hella centralized bank token (which somehow appears to still be in existence) to villainizing Gary Gensler. 

Because Gensler, even though I personally think he’s just a grandstander, actually has the ability to actively impede bitcoin’s adoption in his role at the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Dimon, even though he’s head of one of America’s largest banks, doesn’t wield anything like that kind of power. 

Read more from our opinion section: Gary Gensler is utterly unimportant

So while Dimon did make the news today for his little bitcoin soundbites, his frustration over being asked yet again about bitcoin rings a bit hollow: 

“So just please stop talking about this s*** […] People have opinions, and this is the last time I’m ever going to state my opinion.”

For someone who has been saying the exact same thing about bitcoin and blockchain for six years, has no real influence over what anyone in the world does with bitcoin or blockchain, and keeps getting his face in the news for those selfsame views, why protest so much?

Who actually believes that the next time Dimon is asked about bitcoin, he will remain stone-faced and curtly say, “no comment”?

Not me.


I don’t care much about tech, I don’t care a whole lot about finance, either. I care about writing stories and watching weird things unfold. And that’s why I’ve ended up in crypto.

But because I’m missing that passion for what crypto and blockchain are all about — finance, tech, privacy, yadda yadda — I’m going to write instead about what I am actually interested in. Everything about crypto that has very little to do with crypto.

That’s what this column will be about. All the tangential stories that come out of the blockchain and crypto space, what I think about them, and how I navigate it all as a skeptical former Russian literature major.

It’s precisely my perch as an outsider that lets me do what I do: Opine on all sides of any crypto issue, no strings attached, no skin in the game.

If you want to talk crypto with me, let’s go off topic.


Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter.

Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter.

Get alpha directly in your inbox with the 0xResearch newsletter — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.

The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. Subscribe to daily Solana news from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

Tags

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 18 - 20, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Research Report Templates (2).png

Research

This reports analyzes the competitive dynamics of the Solana DEX landscape, identifying sustainable moats per protocol. We also find that Raydium (RAY), Orca (ORCA), and Lifinity (LFNTY) are valued very similarly on a P/S basis and what this could mean for Meteroa's (MET) valuation, which is still pre-TGE.

article-image

Accepting change is hard, but maybe we’ll never actually get to run back 2021

article-image

As Solana’s tech matures, some founders are starting new businesses based on old ideas that weren’t formerly feasible

article-image

History suggests tariff threat-fueled trade war fears often pass as quickly as they form, analyst Matt Britzman noted

article-image

Many look to Bloomberg Intelligence analysts James Seyffart and Eric Balchunas for credibility regarding ETF approvals

article-image

AI platform Kaito’s tweet-to-earn leaderboard gives users points for posting about crypto

article-image

Lido’s new BORG Foundation aims to strengthen governance and institutional adoption