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Crypto is for criminals? JPMorgan has been fined $39B and has its own token

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JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon is being hauled over the new coals on crypto X (Twitter) after claiming Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrency’s “solely true use case” is to facilitate crime.

“The one true use case for it’s criminals, drug traffickers, cash laundering, tax avoidance,” Dimon mentioned in a listening to earlier than the US Banking Committee on Dec. 5. “If I had been the federal government, I might shut it down.”

However crypto pundits rapidly identified the seeming hypocrisy in Dimon’s statements, highlighting that JPMorgan is the second largest penalized financial institution, having paid $39.three billion in fines throughout 272 violations since 2000, in response to Good Jobs First’s violation tracker.

About $38 billion of those fines got here beneath Dimon’s watch, who commenced as CEO in 2005.

“Discuss being a fucking hypocrite!” mentioned crypto lawyer John Deaton in a Dec. 6 publish on X. 

“Jamie Dimon is in no place to criticize Bitcoin with this kind of observe document,” mentioned VanEck technique adviser Gabor Gurbacs, who famous that banks worldwide have paid $380 billion in fines this century.

The Dimon-led financial institution agreed to a $75 million settlement with the U.S. Virgin Islands in September over allegations that it enabled and financially benefitted from Jeffrey Epstein’s intercourse trafficking operation between 2002 and 2005 — it needs to be famous that settlements aren’t admissions of guilt.

Ten years in the past, the financial institution paid the most important nice in its company historical past at $13 billion in October 2013 for fraudulently deceptive traders over “poisonous” mortgage offers. Poisonous Investments are ones that fall in worth considerably, inflicting the market to break down.

A number of JPMorgan merchants had been additionally investigated for manipulating numerous metals futures markets between 2008 and 2016 and agreed to pay almost $1 billion to settle the investigation in September 2020.

Penalties paid by JPMorgan over numerous violations. Supply: Good Jobs First.

JPMorgan was additionally on the middle of the most important cocaine bust in U.S. historical past when 20 tons or 18,140 kilograms of cocaine, price $1.three billion, was seized in July 2019 on a ship reportedly owned by a fund run by JPMorgan.

Dimon says he’d shut crypto down, however JPMorgan has its personal token

The JPMorgan CEO mentioned, “If I used to be the federal government, I’d shut it down,” in a concluding assertion to U.S. Senator Elizabeth Pockets on the listening to, referring to Bitcoin and cryptocurrency.

Nonetheless, regardless of being “deeply opposed” to the digital asset sector, Dimon and JPMorgan lately launched its personal crypto token — JPM Coin — on a non-public model of the Ethereum blockchain, for its institutional shopper base.

The financial institution additionally rolled out a blockchain-based tokenization platform in October, with BlackRock as one in all its shoppers. It additionally contributed to a $65 million funding spherical for Ethereum infrastructure agency Consensys in April 2021.

Associated: JPMorgan subsidiary Chase UK to limit crypto transactions

Nonetheless, it may very well be presumed that Dimon was distinguishing between cryptocurrencies with a centralized drive behind them and ones that don’t, as he has referred to decentralized currencies as ponzi schemes previously.

Bankless additionally criticised Dimon’s feedback, explaining that the U.S. authorities can not impose an efficient ban on Bitcoin or the cryptocurrency sector as a result of its decentralized nature.

Dimon’s feedback triggered a Group Notes truth verify on X, stating that lower than 1% of cryptocurrency transactions are illicit.

Added context to Dimon’s feedback X’s Group Notes. Supply: X.

Journal: Lawmakers’ worry and doubt drives proposed crypto rules in US