The president of JP Morgan Chase, Jamie Dimon, does not hesitate with the cryptocurrency industry. "If I were the government, I would close it," one of the most important bankers said this Wednesday in an appearance at the meeting of the Senate banking committee.
His comments come after a series of scandals in the industry, which has been under increased scrutiny by US regulators and lawmakers since the bankruptcy of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried's cryptocurrency platform, or the fine of Binance for money laundering. . In any case, the market is experiencing a new awakening with bitcoin skyrocketing this year due to the possibility of ETFs linked to it being approved, which would open the door to the entry of institutional investors.
In recent days, bitcoin has reached the level of $44,000 after a new bullish streak, bringing its annual revaluation above 160%. The figure represents a new test for the most valuable cryptocurrency, which is also driven by a technical process -halving- that will reduce the payment to miners for their operations and the putting into circulation of new units.
It is not the first time that Dimon has been against the world of cryptocurrencies. In the past he already stated that it was "a Ponzi scheme" (pyramid), worse than the tulip bubble, a "fraud" and that if he knew that any of his employees invested in the sector he would fire them, although he later regretted his words. and highlighted the potential of blockchain technology.
In the Senate committee, Dimon and other officials of US entities said that their entities have safeguards to prevent terrorists or other profiles with illegal activities from using their services. Senator Elizabeth Warren denounced that terrorism today has "a new way of bypassing" the restrictions with cryptocurrencies, which is why she asked that the rules against money laundering be extended to the sector.
The entities in fact took the opportunity to criticize a possible increase in regulation in the sector and more specifically the adaptation in this country of the Basel III standards prepared by the Federal Reserve. The standards that the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision have developed in response to the 2007-09 financial crisis and seek to strengthen the regulation, supervision and risk management of banks.
Specifically, Dimon warned that the proposal would "unjustifiably and unnecessarily" increase the capital requirements of large U.S. banks by 20% to 25%, limiting their ability to deploy capital at times most needed, with "a detrimental dominoes on the economy, markets and businesses around the world.
