JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has been back with the Bitcoin hate in recent days, dismissing the world’s largest crypto — trading below $95K at the time — as worthless and beloved by criminals. Bitcoin yawned.
“Bitcoin itself has no intrinsic value,” Dimon said in an interview with CBS News on Sunday. “It’s used heavily by sex traffickers, money launderers, [and for] ransomware.”
The crypto community may dismiss Dimon’s remarks, but as the head honcho at the world’s largest bank, his words carry weight. Over the years, he has labeled the OG crypto as a “fraud” and “Ponzi scheme” even though his bank is named as an authorized participant in BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF. And its December crypto research report said Donald Trump’s victory had set “a new floor for legitimacy of crypto.”
Looks like Bitcoin investors are moved more by those facts –– and other crypto-positive developments –– than by Dimon’s comments. BTC shot up by 5% to around $97K on Tuesday, data from CoinGecko shows, with other majors also flashing green.
Read more: Cypher Capital’s Vineet Budki is starting a new crypto VC fund
Not everyone’s hatin’
BlackRock, itself led by ex-crypto skeptic Larry Fink, launched a spot Bitcoin ETF in Canada on Monday, under the same ticker as its $52 billion US counterpart.
Bitcoin’s rebound also comes as the US Court of Appeals slammed the Securities and Exchange Commission for its “arbitrary and capricious” handling of Coinbase’s request for clear crypto rules.
Read more: BlackRock just sent Bitcoin into the big leagues
Corporate involvement
Public companies have also sent some fresh bullish signals. On Monday, MicroStrategy announced its 10th consecutive Bitcoin purchase, buying $243 million worth of the token. Health tech firm Semler Scientific, the 13th largest public corporate holder of Bitcoin, also stacked an additional $23 million the same day.
Meanwhile, Sony just went live with Soneium, a layer-two blockchain on Ethereum built for gaming, finance and entertainment, after a four-month testing with 14 million wallets.
Read more: $100K’s not enough for MicroStrategy’s Saylor
Literal crypto party
That’s all stuff the fans can celebrate when they pop champagne at the first “Crypto Ball” on January 17, being held to honor Donald Trump and Vice-President-Elect JD Vance’s inauguration.
Gold tickets, originally priced at $2,500 according to reports, have already sold out. Only the $5K black tickets are available, according to the website.
Skepticism around crypto isn’t going anywhere, but Bitcoin’s still kicking. How long that will last post Trump’s inauguration, though, is anyone’s guess.
Edited by Amitoj Singh and Lin Noueihed. If you have any tips, ideas or feedback, please get in touch: talk-to-us@moniify.com
