Bitcoin “a fraud” that will “blow up”, says JP Morgan boss

JP Morgan (NYSE:JPM) boss Jamie Dimon has criticized Bitcoin (CURRENCY:BTC) as a “fraud”, and only fit for use by drug dealers, murderers and “people living in places such as North Korea”.

At a banking conference in New York, Dimon stated that he would let go anyone “in a second” if they were found to be trading in the cryptocurrency at the investment bank.

Ultimately, Mr Dimon remains unconvinced of the future profitability of the Bitcoin phenomenon:  “For two reasons: it’s against our rules, and they’re stupid. And both are dangerous.”

He added: “The currency isn’t going to work. You can’t have a business where people can invent a currency out of thin air and think that people who are buying it are really smart.”

However, he did note that there were certain exceptions where the concept could prove useful. He commented:

“If you were in Venezuela or Ecuador or North Korea or a bunch of parts like that, or if you were a drug dealer, a murderer, stuff like that, you are better off doing it in bitcoin than US dollars,” he said.

“So there may be a market for that, but it’d be a limited market.”

Bitcoin remains the largest player in the digital currency market, having steadily increasing in value during the year, passing the $5,000 threshold earlier this month.

Moreover, cyptocurrencies of the like are steadily gaining popularity across the mainstream markets.

Last month a London property developer announced they will accept deposit payments and rent in bitcoin.

Whilst JP Morgan has invested in a rival to Bitcoin, Ethereum, the head of the bank did differentiate between the two, with blockchain technology holding some advantages to the future of financial services.

JP Morgan is in fact in the midst of developing its own block-chain network named “Quorum”, which provides a middle ground between the proliferation of untraceable decentralised currencies, as it ultimately requires permission from an official authority to participate.

The value of Bitcoin is currently down over 4 percent, at 1 BTC equaling 3,004.3855 GBP, as of 10.40AM (GMT).