Bitcoin’s recent surge has defied expectations as more and more people jump on the cryptocurrency bandwagon. It also helps that ICOs or Initial Coin Offerings have taken off. ICOs are a way for startups to raise funding through cryptocurrencies. Not everyone is bullish on Bitcoin, though. The CEO of one of the largest financial institutions on the planet believes that Bitcoin is a fraud that will eventually “blow up.”
Bitcoin’s price has taken a hit recently after China banned ICOs as it considers them a mode of illegal public financing. The comments from JPMorgan Chase’s CEO haven’t helped as well.
Speaking at the Delivering Alpha Conference this week, JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said that Bitcoin is a fraud and that it’s not a real thing.
He recently compared Bitcoin to the infamous Tulip Mania from the 1630s, saying that “It’s worse than tulip bulbs. It won’t end well. Someone is going to get killed. Currencies have legal support. It will blow up.”
Dimon has also said that he won’t tolerate Bitcoin trading within his bank. He said that he’d fire an employee the very second if they were caught trading Bitcoin as it’s against the bank’s rules.
These comments caused Bitcoin’s price to drop further, testing the $3,800 level. Just to get a sense of the price volatility, consider the fact that Bitcoin was trading around $5,000 just a few days back.
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