By Leon Pick
JPMorgan (N:JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon believes that Bitcoin's prospects for survival as a currency are poor, consistent with previous comments he has made on the matter.
Responding to a question from the audience at the Fortune Global Forum yesterday, Dimon said: "Virtual currency, where it’s called a bitcoin vs. a U.S. dollar, that’s going to be stopped. No government will ever support a virtual currency that goes around borders and doesn’t have the same controls. It’s not going to happen." As CEO of the biggest bank in America, which has not escaped its fair share of controversy over the years, Dimon's comments on Bitcoin and other hot issues often attract much attention.
Dimon previously commented that bitcoin as a currency is “a terrible store of value”. On the potential threat it poses to banks, he said in 2013 that “Bitcoin developers are going to try and eat our lunch and that’s fine,” adding that “that’s called competition and we will be competing.”
Earlier this year, he acknowledged the threat posed by Bitcoin and other emerging technologies to the traditional banking model. During a conference call with shareholders, he mentioned that the bank is examining its competitors in “excruciating detail”.
On the potential for Bitcoin's blockchain technology, and others inspired by it, he is more optimistic. “Blockchain is like any other technology. If it is cheaper, effective, works, and secure, then we are going to use it," he said at the Fortune event. Several weeks ago, he commented that most banks are probably looking at the technology by now, including his own.