Mere months ago, back in October 2017, JPMorgan’s CEO Jamie Dimon said that digital currency was “stupid” and a “great product” for criminals. He even went as far as saying,
“If you’re stupid enough to buy it, you’ll pay the price for it one day.” Dimon had also said that it was a market bubble more overvalued than the tulip bulb craze of the 17th century.
Just days later, there were reports that at the same time Dimon was making those statements, a group of managers from JPMorgan were actually looking in to the crypto market trying to figure out how to deal with it and get involved in it.
Fast forward to January 2018, Dimon says he regrets calling bitcoin a fraud.
Just days ago, JPMorgan released an official Crypto Report, that some are calling the Bitcoin Bible. In it, it talks about how cryptocurrencies could one day diversify investment portfolios.
Since Bitcoin is uncorrelated to other assets (meaning that when the price of gold, stocks, bonds, or commodities goes up or down, Bitcoin doesn’t care), having a portion of your investments in cryptocurrencies can help tame risk.
This report is basically a green light to the entire investment industry that Bitcoin is a viable asset class and needs to be owned.
Interestingly, Palm Beach Confidential’s Teeka Tiwari said almost these exact words back at the end of 2017 (read it here).
So, the question I have for you, is what do you think of JPMorgan’s change in direction? Is it a market manipulating play to lower the price of Bitcoin by saying it’s a fraud, so that they can buy in before releasing their report? Or do we give them the benefit of doubt, and assume that the CEO didn’t know the research or opinions/insight of the top executives at the company that were preparing the Bitcoin Bible for public release when Dimon made those anti-crypto statements?
Since it’s JP Morgan, you know the answer. Tell the public to do one thing, but do the opposite.