‘If I was the governing administration, I would near it down’

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon lashed out at bitcoin and its friends, suggesting in remarks Wednesday on Capitol Hill that cryptocurrencies should be banned.

“I have always been deeply opposed to crypto, bitcoin, and many others.,” the head of the greatest U.S. lender by belongings claimed less than questioning from Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., for the duration of a Senate Banking Committee hearing. “The only accurate use circumstance for it is criminals, drug traffickers … dollars laundering, tax avoidance.”

“If I was the govt, I’d close it down,” he extra.

The remarks are the newest broadside from Dimon in opposition to cryptocurrencies, although his financial institution is heavily concerned in blockchain, the enabling technological innovation for the $1.6 trillion business.

In earlier statements, Dimon has called bitcoin “a hyped-up fraud,” a remark he later walked back. He experienced also likened it to a “pet rock.”

Underneath more questioning from Warren, Dimon and numerous other CEOs of huge financial institutions introduced right before the committee as component of a program hearing on the industry, agreed that crypto businesses really should deal with the exact same anti-cash-laundering rules as the main financial establishments.

The subject marked a exceptional note of unity concerning the banking leaders and Warren, usually a harsh critic of the market.

“When it arrives to banking policy, I am not ordinarily keeping hands with the CEOs of multibillion-greenback banking institutions, but this is a issue of nationwide security. Terrorists, drug traffickers and rogue nations should really be barred from working with crypto for their unsafe pursuits. It is time for Congress to act,” Warren reported.

You should not skip these tales from CNBC Pro: