Katherine Ross

David Canellis

<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The bitcoin play</h2>



Here we go again.



Right now, one of the biggest narratives in crypto is political chatter.



I touched on this yesterday, when I <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/empire-newsletter-crypto-narrative-evolution">unpacked</a> Republican vice president hopeful JD Vance’s crypto stance. But it warrants a deeper dive.



Over the past couple of days, I’ve talked to a variety of folks about the upcoming election, where they stand, what this means, etc.&nbsp;



GSR co-CEO Rich Rosenblum told me he <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/crypto-presidential-election">predicted a pro-crypto ticket</a> would “give crypto the stage” and potentially force Democrats to take a hard look at their approach to the industry. But he had no idea just how pro-crypto the Republican ticket could be.&nbsp;



However, he also noted that the ticket is “also far more polarizing, given that Vance holds some far right views.”



The ticket itself is viewed as “extremely bullish” by Rosenblum (and some VCs including 2 Punks Capital’s Jacob Martin).&nbsp;



“With this much support so early, and the current administration continuing to be on their back feet, it ups the probability that the Republicans will sweep the Senate, and gain a bigger majority of the House. This would put them in a much better position to push forward pro crypto legislation and initiatives,” Rosenblum noted. “Vance is a staunch crypto advocate. He not only owns $250,000 of BTC, but volunteered it to the public, and was the first to subscribe to Trump’s pro crypto approach.”



In fact, we’re seeing some “Trump Effect” on crypto prices right now, Pedro Lapenta, Hashdex’s head of research, told me.&nbsp;



This effect is “highlighting the growing intersection of politics and digital assets. As the 2024 elections loom, investors and industry stakeholders continue to monitor these developments closely, anticipating further impacts to prices and the evolving crypto landscape,” he said.



The discourse about politics has also taken back center stage when it comes to crypto. Yesterday, Mark Cuban came out and explained that the Silicon Valley switch to support former President Donald Trump was actually a “bitcoin play.”&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">Part 1 Here is a contrary opinion on the emergence of Silicon Valley support for former President Trump. Which like all my opinions on here, probably won’t be popular. It’s a bitcoin play. Not because the former President is a far stronger proponent of crypto. That’s nice.…&mdash; Mark Cuban (@mcuban) <a href="https://twitter.com/mcuban/status/1813591281970348264?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 17, 2024</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



And then, just a few hours later, Vitalik Buterin <a href="https://vitalik.eth.limo/general/2024/07/17/procrypto.html">published a blog</a> explaining why he doesn’t believe people should be supporting candidates just because they’re pro-crypto.



“There is a growing push within the crypto space to become more politically active, and favor political parties and candidates almost entirely on whether or not they are willing to be lenient and friendly to ‘crypto,’” Buterin wrote.



Whew.



But big venture capitalists such as Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, who have already said they plan to donate to a Trump super PAC, and other so-called tech bros might not be turning to Trump just for bitcoin, Rosenblum explained.



“I don’t think the richest leaders in tech are voting solely on what helps their BTC positions. But, it&#8217;s a reasonable claim from Cuban, given that a Trump/Vance ticket is sure to increase the probability of a BTC strategic reserve and other crypto initiatives. If they were to be voting for economic reasons, I think it’s more due to Trump’s support for innovation rather than just support for crypto,” he said.&nbsp;



Trump, while seemingly pro-crypto now, is also pro-innovation — and that includes AI.&nbsp;



“Generally players in tech have much bigger investments in AI than they do in crypto, so I think it would be more accurate to say that these leaders in tech are voting for Trump as a pro-business play, as he is volunteering views that are supportive of their industry,” Rosenblum continued.



All in all, though, Rosenblum thinks this “virtuous cycle of crypto boosting politics and politics boosting crypto is going to activate a flywheel of historic proportions.” We could even see a “crypto supercycle.”



“BTC and ETH are much easier to access now that they will both have ETFs, and this access will bring in new capital, and new awareness of the space. Long-time holders roll their positions into newer projects, which will fuel further innovation and adoption for the industry,” he added.&nbsp;



There’s no doubting the increased interest in the election now, take a look at this chart on Polymarket volumes. July has already surpassed June, and we’re only about halfway through the month.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXd8eHqX1dtP_5r75H0VN_kmC3qHwX7Z5dqSOEgEvQB9m6XmCV0yH7gxBPRxUUQT-ztiJe9eLFlhUYCaxJcf7HBLWX0mqgQic2CmlfEuaitISRCEDpJ1BkUcNFcUR_CJrBBA5Jjaitx_b6pPUSpvkMKtKnSO?key=kD2Z3bZ7nekdHExVzBW9cQ" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">July’s shaping up to be an impressive month for the crypto prediction market</figcaption></figure>



We still have a few months before the election, but be prepared for this narrative to remain top of mind as the industry looks to chart a path forward.



It’s going to be a very interesting fall, that’s for sure.



— Katherine Ross



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Data Center</h2>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Polymarket’s monthly volume is already at an all-time high of $131.85 million, with two weeks left to go.</li>



<li>Total <a href="https://dune.com/rchen8/polymarket">volume</a> for the year to date: $487.7 million.</li>



<li>Polymarket betters put the <a href="https://polymarket.com/event/presidential-election-winner-2024?tid=1721304316892">odds</a> of a Trump win at 65%, Kamala Harris 17% and Joe Biden 11%. There’s currently $273.5 million on the line.</li>



<li>WLD, WIF and CORE lead the top-100 for weekly gains, between 50% and 32%.</li>



<li>BTC and ETH are flat on the daily, hovering below $65,000 and $3,500.</li>
</ul>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Cryptocommander-in-Chief</h2>



If it wasn’t obvious before, it is now: Presidential favorite Donald Trump is a crypto influencer.



Trump is even expanding his suite of NFT collections, on track for his fourth, going by recent <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2024-trump-interview-transcript/">comments</a>.



And why not? The first three <a href="https://dune.com/polygon_analytics/trump-trading-cards">raised</a> millions of dollars through primary sales, although <a href="https://nftpricefloor.com/trump-nft-digital-trading-cards">floor</a> <a href="https://nftpricefloor.com/trump-digital-trading-cards-series-2">prices</a> have lagged.



Those funds are apparently separate from the $3 million in crypto raised for his campaign last quarter from around 100 donors — just shy of 1% of the total contributions for the period, per <a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/trump-2024-campaign-bitcoin-crypto-donations-b0638147">WSJ</a>.



The NFTs have a direct line to Trump (one <a href="https://collecttrumpcards.com/">collection</a> even comes with a physical card containing a piece of his infamous “Mug Shot Suit”). But there&#8217;s also a bevy of unofficial Trump memecoins arguably more popular than the official NFTs.



MAGA is the biggest, launched mid-last year. The token, which has a market cap of $319 million, is now found in nearly 71,400 wallets split between Solana, Ethereum, BSC and Base — almost double the amount recorded in April.



(The shaded area in purple on the chart below covers Trump&#8217;s civil fraud trial, which wrapped up in January.)



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXdKGOPpAWThfWk0xvy0Yo5EQtskAJsjBxPe2IBLqejymPZkekH_NXxBvvluZw5-z0E0Nxl-gFL82OF1TCyKfrK3ZlqmNsSremJaeatqIzaQFcaMVMBoSnusHt6nJ_rI-mfLehhhnLdWAzr2Z-otO0mrkGlN?key=kD2Z3bZ7nekdHExVzBW9cQ" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The team behind MAGA have been <a href="https://magamemecoin.com/">donating</a> a 1% transaction fee to causes for veterans and child trafficking prevention. Total to date: 550.63 ETH ($1.74 million)</figcaption></figure>



Major events in Trump’s timeline over the past year have coincided with waves of new MAGA holders, whether positive or negative. The number of wallets containing MAGA jumped by 620 directly after his infamous mug shot last August, which was a lot at the time.&nbsp;



When the Supreme Court ruled Trump could be added to the California ballot in early March, more than 5,500 additional addresses began holding MAGA. That’s the largest surge of new holders so far.&nbsp;



Similar spikes in new holders were seen when Trump was found guilty of paying $130,000 in ‘hush money’ to Stormy Daniels, and following the assassination attempt this past weekend.



There does seem to be a link between Trump narrative plot points and the price of MAGA (any news is good news, is good for the price of MAGA, at least in the short term).



But the price of bitcoin also seems to align with Trump stuff — bitcoin’s price hit all-time high around the time that Trump was let on the California ballot, and rallied again around the end of his hush money trial, and also bounced following the botched assassination. Technical analysis would <a href="https://blockworks-research.beehiiv.com/p/market-rebound-not-trump">suggest</a> that it’s mostly coincidence. And the same could go for the spike in MAGA holders, but the connection there does appear obvious.



Another hot memecoin, MOG, gained thousands of new holders as bitcoin rallied to its record high in March, same with MAGA.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXf3UAO_f8yMDgJgxbqcv8JxJJCwx1rVtOi9c35tcsxoNOTj6ImR_RRS4W27tpCSlztVZNDhUFC7DpXtPQGvq4JOeVI9dX-ABt0yUYp1lrcb2SbbKLL0kuLAYe4JLCuT9Wcve4ykhvOGOWxiK7xODQGvxKqh?key=kD2Z3bZ7nekdHExVzBW9cQ" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">It turns out, people buy memecoins when bitcoin goes up</figcaption></figure>



And while it wasn’t to the same degree as MAGA, the rate of new MOG holders also picked up when bitcoin sought a retest in late May.



So, who’s in charge: big fish trading on technical market indicators, or Trump, now carrying the torch for celebrity crypto influencers from cycles past like John McAfee and Elon Musk?



Probably both. But I know which answer would mean we’re in for loads more fun heading into November’s election. Let’s go with that.



— David Canellis



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The Works</h2>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>BlockFi announced it’s beginning its first <a href="https://x.com/BlockFi/status/1813611800426086431">interim crypto distributions</a> through Coinbase.</li>



<li>Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith had his sentenced <a href="https://x.com/aurbelis/status/1813593386710102378">reduced by seven months</a> after pleading guilty to North Korean sanctions violations in 2021.&nbsp;&nbsp;</li>



<li>State Street is looking into creating a stablecoin, Bloomberg <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-07-17/state-street-said-to-explore-creating-stablecoin-deposit-token?srnd=cryptocurrencies-v2">reported</a>.&nbsp;</li>



<li>Ether ETF issuers <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-07-17/ether-etf-battle-for-supremacy-ignites-as-firms-reveal-proposed-fund-fees">announced</a> their fees Wednesday, with BlackRock coming in at 0.25% ahead of potential approval next week.&nbsp;</li>



<li>Former President Donald Trump told <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2024-trump-interview/">Bloomberg Businessweek</a> that he believes the US should focus on crypto so China or other countries don’t become dominant in the space.</li>
</ul>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The Riff</h2>



Q: Trump has floated JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon as a potential Treasury Secretary. Isn’t Dimon anti-crypto?



The full version of the quote falsely <a href="https://apnews.com/article/archive-fact-checking-2315880316">attributed</a> to Gandhi goes:&nbsp;



“First they ignore you. Then they ridicule you. And then they attack you and want to burn you. And then they build monuments to you.”



Jamie Dimon is transitioning between the third and fourth stages right now.



He <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jp-morgans-jamie-dimon-on-bitcoin-2014-1?international=true&amp;r=US&amp;IR=T">ignored</a> bitcoin in 2014. &#8220;It&#8217;s a terrible store of value. It could be replicated over and over,” he said.



In 2017, he <a href="https://www.businessinsider.nl/bitcoin-price-worse-than-tulip-bulbs-2017-9?international=true&amp;r=US">ridiculed</a> it, calling it a “fraud” and “worse than Tulip bulbs.”



The following year, Dimon clearly wanted bitcoin to burn, <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/31/18048960/jp-morgan-ceo-jamie-dimon-bitcoin-cryptocurrency-criticism">saying</a> “I really don’t give a shit.”&nbsp;



Will Dimon build a monument to bitcoin next, say, in the form of a JPMorgan bitcoin ETF?&nbsp;



In retrospect, it will seem inevitable.



— David Canellis



Here’s the thing: Everyone’s allowed to be wrong.



Actually, in all fairness, I’m not trying to say Dimon’s wrong for taking an anti-crypto stance, but I do think it shows a misunderstanding of crypto.&nbsp;



The JPMorgan CEO, who weathered the 2008 crisis and managed to retain his CEO position, probably has every right to take a skeptical or critical stance on the industry. Honestly, back when I was working on Wall Street, I was also skeptical for a time.



Education is key here. There may be parts of crypto Dimon never supports (no shot we see him endorsing celebrity memecoins, for example) but I think it’s reasonable to believe he could come around.



Take BlackRock’s Larry Fink, for example. In 2017 he called bitcoin “an index of money laundering” but earlier this week, he called it “a legitimate financial instrument.”



And, while I always have to point out that BlackRock has skin in this game, Fink’s shift is not just monetary. It shows that he came around to understand crypto.&nbsp;



With Dimon’s firm already heavily interested in blockchain technology, it may just be a matter of time until we see him don some laser eyes. But, as I’ve said before, I’m not a betting woman.



— Katherine Ross



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Trump and his ‘extremely bullish’ presidential ticket

Consensus 2024 wrapped last Friday, and it went out with a whisper.&nbsp;



To be honest, that’s the case with most crypto conferences. By the end, people are ready to hop on their flights and jet home, especially if they decided to event-hop the night before (shout out to the two guys who agreed to a 4:30 am bedtime Thursday after leaving an event that wrapped up at 8:30 pm).&nbsp;



This year’s conference, multiple people told me, was all about the side events. Again, that’s not unusual, but it did make the conference itself feel emptier at times.&nbsp;



I attended Consensus last year, and thought that the comparison would be stark. But this year’s conference didn’t include as many flashy booths, though there were plenty of stages filled with interesting speakers.&nbsp;



Dear reader, I have to admit I wasn’t there on the first day, but attendees told me that people were excited and crowds were large on Wednesday as the conference kicked off. That seemed to taper off slightly through Thursday and Friday, though.



I was told that there were close to 15,000 attendees, up from last year’s 10,000. The Austin Police Force&#8217;s presence seemed to verify my information, as security was definitely heightened throughout the conference. By Friday, it seemed like most had relaxed, and I even saw a police officer playing life-sized chess against an attendee.&nbsp;



The vibe this year was very much focused on institutions, and clearly there’s support from both sides. For example, <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/google-cloud">Google Cloud</a> had a “start-up village” which included a stage for founders, investors and entrepreneurs, and which featured constantly a rotating assortment of panels and talks. 


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="alignright size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1920" height="2560" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IMG_9933-2-scaled.jpg?w=1024&amp;h=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-87149" style="width:299px;height:auto" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IMG_9933-2-scaled.jpg?w=1920 1920w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IMG_9933-2-scaled.jpg?w=225 225w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IMG_9933-2-scaled.jpg?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IMG_9933-2-scaled.jpg?w=1152 1152w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IMG_9933-2-scaled.jpg?w=1536 1536w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IMG_9933-2-scaled.jpg?w=193 193w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IMG_9933-2-scaled.jpg?w=196 196w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IMG_9933-2-scaled.jpg?w=164 164w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IMG_9933-2-scaled.jpg?w=60 60w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Source: Consensus</figcaption></figure></div>


Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/presidential-candidate-rfk-jr-on-crypto-trump">RFK Jr is ‘happy’ about Trump’s crypto commitment</a>



In that regard, it felt like crypto was back and definitely more upbeat than last year. While Consensus 2023 may have felt more crowded, there was a lot of healing still taking place as the industry dealt with the ramifications of the <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/ftx-comparison-crypto-bankruptcies">FTX collapse, bankruptcies</a> and looming Securities and Exchange Commission <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/robinhood-wells-notice-sec">actions</a> (important to note, though, that neither Binance nor Coinbase had pending legal action at the time).&nbsp;



Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presence on Thursday definitely added to that, as the presidential candidate spoke both to the press and on stage. In fact, the news of former President Donald Trump’s verdict (found guilty on all 34 counts) broke while RFK Jr. was in the press conference. At first, he said he’d been “disciplined” about not commenting on the court cases.&nbsp;



However, he and his team must’ve decided to change course, because he later said that he believes the verdict could end up “helping” Trump since it was the “weakest case” brought against him.&nbsp;



One thing that was brought up in plenty of conversations both at the venue and the side events were the Jamie Dimon knock-offs stationed outside the entry doors. And, honestly, is it even a crypto conference if there aren’t some weird shenanigans taking place? (The answer is no.)



I still couldn’t tell you exactly what the point was, though — according to a press release in my inbox — the company behind the stunts is UNFK, “a secret society and Web3 game to prank the world’s largest corrupt corporations.”



While I heard reports about the lack of deodorant <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/eth-denver-2024-unfocused">at ETH Denver</a>, I can promise you that wasn’t the case at Consensus. I caught the strong whiff of cologne multiple times as I wandered the venue hall, even tearing up from the odor once or twice.&nbsp;



There were also a large number of kids, at least on Friday, but perhaps that’s a sign of crypto maturing — though not in the way most of us expect I guess.



But, back to what’s important: Overall, it was a fun event and it felt like crypto really has bounced back. Vibes were high, side event food was good and there were productive conversations both on and off stage.&nbsp;



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Consensus 2024: Crypto’s back, baby

Molly Jane Zuckerman

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="256" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Off-Topic-with-Molly-Jane_20230616a-1.png?w=1024&amp;h=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-60166" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Off-Topic-with-Molly-Jane_20230616a-1.png?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Off-Topic-with-Molly-Jane_20230616a-1.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Off-Topic-with-Molly-Jane_20230616a-1.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Off-Topic-with-Molly-Jane_20230616a-1.png?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Off-Topic-with-Molly-Jane_20230616a-1.png?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Off-Topic-with-Molly-Jane_20230616a-1.png?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Off-Topic-with-Molly-Jane_20230616a-1.png?w=80 80w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



Jamie Dimon is back in the news again talking about bitcoin —&nbsp;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 <a href="https://thenextweb.com/news/jpmorgan-jamie-dimon-bitcoin">often-profanity laced views</a> 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 <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/jp-morgan-chase-bans-buying-cryptocurrency-with-credit-cards">covering</a> what Jamie Dimon has said to the media about bitcoin for six years now, back when I used to <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/jp-morgan-sees-crypto-as-competition-and-risk-to-its-business-in-sec-annual-report">capitalize</a> “Blockchain.”&nbsp;



But unlike January 2018, when what JPMorgan did with crypto seemed to have a whole lot more <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/jp-morgan-chase-bans-buying-cryptocurrency-with-credit-cards">sway</a> — 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 <a href="https://www.jpmorgan.com/onyx/coin-system">appears</a> to still be in existence) to villainizing Gary Gensler.&nbsp;



Because Gensler, even though I <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/gary-gensler-is-utterly-unimportant">personally think</a> 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.&nbsp;



Read more from our opinion section: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/gary-gensler-is-utterly-unimportant">Gary Gensler is utterly unimportant</a>



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:&nbsp;



“So just please stop talking about this s*** [&#8230;] 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.



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



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.



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Jamie Dimon is crypto’s most boring villain

Casey Wagner

If it were up to JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, the crypto industry would be “closed down,” he told US senators Wednesday during the Financial Services Committee’s annual banking oversight hearing.&nbsp;



CEOs from the world’s top banks, including Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and BNY Mellon, among others, joined Dimon <a href="https://www.banking.senate.gov/hearings/11/29/2023/annual-oversight-of-wall-street-firms">Wednesday</a> to answer lawmakers’ questions about how effectively the banking industry is serving Americans.&nbsp;



Sen. <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/elizabeth-warren">Elizabeth Warren</a>, D-Mass., a vocal critic of the banking industry, found a rare moment of agreement with Dimon when she shifted the topic of conversation from Basel III — the international agreement spurred by the 2008 financial crisis — to cryptocurrencies.&nbsp;



“Today&#8217;s terrorists have a new way to get around the Bank Secrecy Act: cryptocurrency,” Warren said during her allotted five minutes. “Last year an estimated $20 billion in illicit crypto transactions funded every kind of dangerous criminal. North Korea has funded at least half its missile program, including nuclear weapons, using the proceeds of crypto crime.”&nbsp;



Warren appeared to be citing a January 2023 <a href="https://go.chainalysis.com/rs/503-FAP-074/images/Crypto_Crime_Report_2023.pdf">report</a> from data firm Chainalysis, which found that more than $23 billion of cryptocurrency was laundered in 2022. A mid-year <a href="https://www.chainalysis.com/blog/crypto-crime-midyear-2023-update-ransomware-scams/">report</a> from Chainalysis published in July however found that for the first half of 2023, illicit crypto activities were down 65%.&nbsp;



Warren continued to ask <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/jamie-dimon">Jamie Dimon</a> why, based on his experience leading <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/jpmorgan">JPMorgan</a>, criminals are so drawn to crypto.&nbsp;



“I&#8217;ve always been deeply opposed to crypto, bitcoin etc.,” Dimon responded. “You pointed out the only true use case for it is criminals, drug traffickers, anti money laundering, tax avoidance, and that is a use case because it is somewhat anonymous, not fully, and because you can move money instantaneously.”&nbsp;



“If I was the government, I’d close it down,” he added.



Dimon’s comments come as his institution <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/jpmorgan-lobban-blockchain-financial-instruments">continues to push ahead into the blockchain space</a>. The banking giant launched its corporate stablecoin, JPM Coin, in 2017, which today is still available to select institutional clients. The bank also launched <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/jpmorgan-blockchain-payments">its blockchain platform, Onyx,</a> in 2020, at the time hailing it as the first-ever bank-led project of its kind.&nbsp;



Warren did not ask Dimon about any of JPMorgan’s crypto-related initiatives. She posed her next question to each witness: “Do you think that crypto companies facilitating financial transactions should have to follow the same anti-money laundering rules that your bank has to follow?”



“Absolutely,” each of the eight banking representatives answered.



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JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon: I’d shut crypto down

Michael Bodley

In perhaps his most incendiary remarks yet in a history of outspoken crypto critiques, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon in Texas this week said <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/sam-bankman-fried/">Sa</a><a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/sam-bankman-fried/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">m Bankman-Fried</a> will probably end up in jail — adding that regulators “haven’t focused on crypto at all” and have instead “done nothing,” according to a source familiar with the matter.



Despite Dimon&#8217;s opinions, divisions of the longtime JPMorgan chief executive’s bank <a href="https://www.blockdata.tech/blog/general/what-jp-morgan-is-doing-in-blockchain-and-crypto" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">have embraced crypto</a> and offered <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/jpmorgan-reportedly-to-allow-clients-to-access-crypto-funds/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">related exposures</a> to clients.&nbsp;



The Wall Street heavyweight has also <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/jpmorgan-chase-strategically-invests-in-blockchain-focused-trm-labs/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">snapped up stakes</a> in sector startups. And it’s even carved out its own <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/jpmorgan-enters-the-metaverse-with-virtual-decentraland-lounge/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">metaverse niche</a> via a bank-branded Decentraland virtual lounge.&nbsp;



Not to mention that one of the bank’s own crypto analysts, Steven Alexopoulos, penned a research note for institutional clients, saying the fall of FTX is “potentially dramatically accelerating the timeline” of regulation, according to <a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/shocking-defense-crypto-jpmorgan-ftx-collapse-will-be-massive-ramp-institutional-adoption">Zer</a><a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/shocking-defense-crypto-jpmorgan-ftx-collapse-will-be-massive-ramp-institutional-adoption" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">oHedge</a>. Fair and stringent digital asset regulatory measures are necessary — and overdue — in the eyes of many big-money investors.



“We see the news surrounding FTX as one step back, but one that could prove to be the catalyst to move the crypto economy two steps forward,” Alexopoulos reportedly wrote.&nbsp;



Dimon — meanwhile — opined on digital assets in a bank meeting during his Texas roadshow of sorts, privately meeting with current and prospective clients, as well as bank executives.&nbsp;



Cryptocurrencies are “dirty,” according to Dimon, and do not “hold value.” JPM’s top executive suggested there’s a strong argument for digital assets to be banned outright, saying there’s little, or nothing, cryptocurrencies are capable of that his investment bank is not.



“Silly,” the source told Blockworks. “He’s going too far.”



The source, an institutional crypto trader who has worked with JPMorgan, was granted anonymity to discuss sensitive business dealings. A second source confirmed the meeting took place.&nbsp;



Dunking on crypto



The chief executive’s barrage arrives on the heels of the remarkably fast collapse of crypto exchange FTX, which Bankman-Fried <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/ftx-ceo-bankman-fried-resigns-bankruptcy-proceedings-begin/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">until this week</a> owned. The now-fallen face of crypto resigned this week as FTX declared bankruptcy after rival Binance <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/did-cz-really-have-any-intention-of-buying-ftx/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">backed out</a> of its bid to purchase the formerly lucrative company for <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/1-binance-ftx-deal-is-off-unless-ftx-us-is-part-of-the-package-source/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">just $1</a>.&nbsp;



FTX’s blowup has, in <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/ikigai-fund-caught-up-in-ftx-contagion/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">short order</a>, <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/funds-with-ftx-exposure-have-7-to-12-of-aum-trapped-report/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">triggered</a> a <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/blockfi-eyes-bankruptcy-as-ftx-fallout-continues-report/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ballooning</a> crypto <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/ftx-contagions-next-victim-a-japanese-exchange/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">contagion</a>.



US regulators have <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/how-the-fall-of-washington-favorite-crypto-billionaire-will-change-regulation/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">been scrambling</a>, in particular, to investigate growing allegations that FTX traded on customer funds via sister asset manager, Alameda Research.



“It is worthless,” Dimon said. “I am shocked that governments allow it, by the way. Not that they stop a digital currency — we have a digital currency. JPMorgan moves $10 trillion a day around the world. Every day. As we’re speaking, we’re zipping and zapping money all around the world.”



Dimon — who has dubbed cryptocurrencies a “Ponzi scheme” and reiterated that categorization in the meeting — favorably compared JPMorgan’s existing system for facilitating transactions to crypto’s capabilities.



The bank employs a series of systematic risk controls, he said, including cyber safeguards and financial fraud protections. Digital assets, in Dimon’s view, have been a hospitable home to quite the opposite.



“You don&#8217;t know the exact number of terrorists [using it], tax avoidance, sex trafficking, drug money,” he said. “It’s pretty large.”



Added Dimon, to loud laughter: “So, that’s legitimate use. Everything else is speculation.”



And he was especially a critic of Bankman-Fried’s version of “speculation.”



“That guy, in my view, is probably going to end up going to jail,” Dimon said.



JPMorgan has paid $6.2 billion <a href="https://violationtracker.goodjobsfirst.org/parent/jpmorgan-chase" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">in penalties</a> for investor protection violations and $2.1 billion for anti-money-laundering deficiencies over the years.



The blockchain, not crypto trope



The executive did say, however, that blockchain technology — not cryptoassets on their own accord — <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/j-p-morgan-testing-blockchain-to-solve-money-transfer-woes/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">has potential</a>, in terms of shoring up how banks enable the exchange of monetary value, which has “flaws in the system.”



“Fortunately,” according to Dimon, the flaws are ones “blockchain may help fix over time.”&nbsp;



Regardless of the renewed efforts of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to clamp down on industry bad actors — a long-awaited move in the eyes of some prominent industry participants and dissidents alike — Dimon said he’s been far from satisfied.&nbsp;



Both the depth and breadth of the attempts of regulators attempting to wrap their arms around the asset class and the relative lack of action, according to Dimon, has been made more jarring by the collapse of crypto lenders such as <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/voyager-to-liquidate-assets-at-auction/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Voyager</a> and <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/celsius-chief-pressured-by-creditors-as-ftx-eyes-assets/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Celsius</a> earlier this year, as well as the <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/treasury-official-warns-of-systemic-crypto-risks/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">implosion</a> of the stablecoin UST.&nbsp;



FTX, in quite the paradox, stepped in as <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/ftx-offers-to-bail-out-voyager/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">the savior</a> of a few ailing crypto lenders. Bankman-Fried, not long ago a favored hobnobber and campaign financier in Washington, has left lawmakers <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/us-politicians-donate-bankman-fried-cash-to-charity/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">in the lurch</a> with his purported fraud.



“They did a pretty good job with inflation,” Dimon said. “They did a terrible job with [crypto]…They haven’t focused on this at all,” he added. “The fraud taking place, the scams. And they’ve done nothing.”



A JPMorgan spokesperson declined to comment, and a spokesperson for FTX did not immediately return a request for comment.



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JPM’s Jamie Dimon: Regulators Have Done ‘Nothing’ to Stem Crypto Fraud

<div id="highlights-block_628b9282eb317" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>JPMorgan’s permissioned blockchain Onyx tokenizes US Treasurys for fast settlement within intraday repo markets</li>
 <li>BNP Paribas is the latest bank to join the network after rival Goldman Sachs began utilizing it last June</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



French banking giant BNP Paribas, the second-largest banking group in Europe, is now trading digital tokens on JPMorgan’s blockchain network for short-term asset loans.



JPMorgan’s blockchain system, Onyx Digital Assets, launched in December 2020 and has so far processed more than $300 billion in government bond transactions, according to a <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/f23c990a-913d-4613-8014-f61d35b6e09d" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">report</a> from the Financial Times.



For now, Onyx deals specifically with the intraday repurchase (repo) market, which is valued at around $12 trillion. Banks can lend tokenized US Treasurys for a few days at a time without the assets leaving their balance sheets. This helps navigate liquidity demands imposed on institutions in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.



Borrowers can then exchange the tokens for liquid cash, boosting their available collateral for use within derivatives markets. Onyx is integrated with JPMorgan’s own digital payments token, JPM Coin, which debuted around the same time as its blockchain platform.



Deals on the permissioned blockchain network are settled by automated smart contracts. Onyx’s <a href="https://www.jpmorgan.com/onyx/onyx-digital-assets.htm" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">website</a> boasts that the service enables “near instantaneous atomic exchange of collateral for cash.” Repo transactions can be “traded, settled, and matured within a day,” and trade terms can be as little as minutes.



BNP Paribas’ head of engineering Joe Bonnaud told the Financial Times the bank’s adoption of Onyx was more than exploration of a proof of concept. The bank, which managed $612 billion in assets at the start of the year, hopes the move will help utilize blockchain as trading and operations life cycles of markets evolve. Rival bank Goldman Sachs joined Onyx last June.



Permissioned (private) blockchains such as Onyx differ greatly from Bitcoin and Ethereum, which are permissionless (public) networks. Anyone with the right equipment can join and use permissionless blockchains — either as validators or regular users — while JPMorgan alone controls who validates Onyx transactions and ultimately decides which institutions can access its network.



BNP Paribas is among a consortium of French banks experimenting with a <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/french-central-bank-trades-oats-on-private-blockchain/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">permissioned blockchain project</a> of the French central bank, trading debt securities as part of research on central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">JPMorgan is deep in blockchain, slowly wading into crypto</h3>



JPMorgan adopting blockchain — even a watered-down version of it — might be surprising to some, considering CEO Jamie Dimon’s repeated criticisms of bitcoin over the years.



Dimon has been one of the most vocal proponents of the “blockchain, not bitcoin” mantra, which became synonymous with crypto-weary institutional players in 2018 — labeling BTC “fool’s gold” and “worthless” as recently as October.



JPMorgan developed and sold open source enterprise blockchain platform Quorum to Ethereum giant ConsenSys in August 2020 for an undisclosed amount. Quorum enables companies and other entities to deploy their own blockchain networks validated by a single entity, hosted by Microsoft’s Azure cloud service. JPMorgan joined a $65 million ConsenSys funding round one year later.



Despite Dimon’s skepticism, JPMorgan quietly began offering its richest clients access to a half-dozen crypto funds last year, including a bitcoin fund operated by New York-headquartered finance unit NYDIG, four Grayscale Investment crypto funds, and one managed by Osprey.



JPMorgan also made a “strategic investment” in the San Francisco-based blockchain analytics firm TRM Labs in February. The company helps trace illicit crypto flows to aid in regulatory matters, similarly to Chainalysis and Elliptic.



The bank even established a &#8220;<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/jpmorgan-enters-the-metaverse-with-virtual-decentraland-lounge/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">lounge</a>&#8221; (also named Onyx) in the blockchain-powered metaverse app Decentraland in the same month, the first major institution to do so.



As for what’s next, head of Onyx Digital Assets Tyrone Lobban told reporters JPMorgan was exploring institutional access to decentralized finance markets via Onyx, although details were not forthcoming.



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French Banking Giant BNP Paribas Joins JPMorgan’s Onyx Blockchain

Ben Strack

<div id="highlights-block_626ab28abe9d5" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Moy will be key in Apollo’s strategy to invest in innovative digital asset companies and founders</li>
 <li>The executive recently helped JPMorgan become the first bank to launch a virtual lounge in the metaverse</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Former JPMorgan Managing Director Christine Moy is set to join Apollo Global Management to lead its digital asset strategy as the firm created the role to delve deeper into the segment.



Founded in 1990, Apollo is an alternative asset management business with roughly $500 billion in assets under management as of Dec. 31, 2021. Moy is slated to start at the company in mid-May.



“Christine will lead digital asset strategy across the firm, exploring more ways to apply blockchain technologies to our business,” an Apollo spokesperson told Blockworks. “She’ll also play a key role in our strategy to invest in the most innovative digital asset companies and founders, with a specific focus on those transforming the financial services sector, where Apollo can serve as a validator and enabler of new technologies.”



The hire marks a continuation of the firm’s efforts to fund companies, protocols and other projects in the segment.



Apollo, for example, <a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2021/07/14/2262721/0/en/Apollo-and-Figure-to-Collaborate-on-Blockchain-Enabled-Initiatives.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">agreed to collaborate</a> with fintech company <a href="https://www.figure.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Figure</a> on a series of blockchain-enabled initiatives last year and invested in the company’s $200 million Series D funding round.&nbsp;



Moy will take on the new role after spending 18 years at JPMorgan. She most recently oversaw the company’s blockchain, crypto and metaverse strategy, which included leading initiatives in digital assets, tokenized payments, internet-of-things, digital identity, digital collectibles and virtual worlds, according to her LinkedIn profile.&nbsp;



She also led blockchain network <a href="https://www.jpmorgan.com/onyx/liink" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Liink</a>, a data marketplace that enables cross-border payments for financial institutions and corporates.



At JPMorgan, Moy led the <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/jpmorgan-enters-the-metaverse-with-virtual-decentraland-lounge/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">launch of a virtual lounge</a> in blockchain-based world Decentraland in February, becoming the first bank to do so. The “Onyx lounge” was unveiled along with a <a href="https://www.jpmorgan.com/content/dam/jpm/treasury-services/documents/opportunities-in-the-metaverse.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">report</a> from the bank outlining metaverse-related growth opportunities for businesses and causes for its “explosive interest.”



The bank noted in the report at the time that the metaverse will likely infiltrate every sector in some way in the coming years and estimated the market opportunity to be more than $1 trillion in yearly revenues.&nbsp;



Though JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has criticized crypto in recent years — calling bitcoin “worthless” — he recognized the potential of blockchain technology in a <a href="https://reports.jpmorganchase.com/investor-relations/2021/ar-ceo-letters.htm" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">recent shareholder letter</a>. Dimon noted the bank’s use of Liink to enable banks to share complex information, as well as its use of a blockchain to move tokenized US dollar deposits with <a href="https://www.jpmorgan.com/solutions/cib/news/digital-coin-payments" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">JPM Coin</a>.&nbsp;



“Decentralized finance and blockchain are real, new technologies that can be deployed in both public and private fashion, permissioned or not,” he wrote. “We believe there are many uses where a blockchain can replace or improve contracts, data ownership and other enhancements; for some purposes, however, it is currently too expensive or too slow to be deployed.&#8221;



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