Jamie Dimon: 'Bitcoin Is a Fraud'

The most powerful banker in America declared war on Bitcoin. His bank now makes billions from crypto.

In September 2017, Jamie Dimon stood at an investor conference and called Bitcoin "a fraud." He said it was "worse than tulip bulbs" and threatened to fire any JPMorgan trader caught touching it. The quote made global headlines. Bitcoin dipped briefly, then kept climbing.

Within two months, BTC hit $20,000. Within six years, JPMorgan had launched its own blockchain (Onyx), its own token (JPM Coin), and was processing billions in crypto-related transactions. The bank that called Bitcoin a fraud became one of the biggest institutional players in digital assets.

Dimon softened over time but never fully walked it back. By 2024 he was calling Bitcoin "a Ponzi scheme" instead of a fraud - which is technically a downgrade in insults. He told Congress he would "close it down" if he were the government. His bank, meanwhile, offered Bitcoin futures trading, custody services, and blockchain settlement to its wealthiest clients. JPMorgan was a lead authorized participant for Bitcoin ETFs in 2024.

The hypocrisy became a running joke. Dimon's personal opinion and his bank's business strategy existed in completely separate universes. He called it a fraud while his traders built the infrastructure to profit from it. The pattern repeated across Wall Street: mock it publicly, build infrastructure for it privately, profit from it eventually.

In January 2025, after Bitcoin spot ETFs had attracted over $100 billion in assets, Dimon said he still "wouldn't recommend it." JPMorgan's annual crypto-related revenue was north of $2 billion. The CEO and the bank have never been further apart.