JPMorgan CEO: We Can Learn From Technologies Like Bitcoin
Jamie Dimon, chairman and president of JP Morgan Chase, says his bank can learn from disruptive payment systems like bitcoin.
Jamie Dimon, chairman and president of JP Morgan Chase, says his bank can learn from disruptive payment systems like bitcoin.
Dimon, famously dismissive of the digital currency, made the comments in his annual letter to JP Morgan shareholders, noting:
The letter, which flagged the bank's recent "record results" and incoming competition in the payments space, suggested JP Morgan would seek to monitor these competitors – and outpace them.
"We need to acknowledge our own flaws ... Rest assured, we analyse all of our competitors in excruciating detail – so we can learn what they are doing and develop our own strategies accordingly."
Bitcoin on the radar
The CEO has made headlines with his remarks on bitcoin's disruptive potential before.
Speaking on a panel at the Institute of International Finance's annual conference in 2013, he said: "Bitcoin developers are going to try and eat our lunch and that's fine," adding, "that's called competition and we will be competing".
During an interview with CNBC reporter Andrew Ross Sorkin, Dimon also stated that the digital currency was "a terrible store of value. It could be replicated over and over".
He also expressed scepticism that the digital currency could face up to regulatory scrutiny, stating:
Traditional financial institutions have been paying increasing attention to developments in the bitcoin space. In turn, a flurry of Wall Street execs – including ex-JP Morgan employees – are now jumping ship to bitcoin startups.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Last month saw the departure of ex-JP Morgan Chase executive Blythe Masters to join bitcoin trading platform Digital Assets Holdings LLC as its chief executive. A former JP Morgan commodities trader, Daniel Masters, set up the first regulated bitcoin fund, GABI, in Jersey last year.
Image: Steve Jurvetson via Wikimedia Commons