JPMorgan boss says crypto tokens are ‘decentralised ponzi schemes’

Jamie Dimon didn’t mince words when a US politician mentioned the executive’s history of criticising cryptocurrencies.

“I’m a major sceptic on crypto tokens, which you call currency, like Bitcoin,” the JPMorgan Chase chief executive said in congressional testimony on Wednesday. “They are decentralised Ponzi schemes.”

Stablecoins — digital assets tied to the value of the US dollar or other currencies — would not be problematic with proper regulation, and JPMorgan is active in blockchain, Mr Dimon said.

The comments are the latest criticism of digital currencies by Mr Dimon, who once called Bitcoin “a fraud” before eventually saying he regretted the comments.

House financial services committee chairwoman Maxine Waters and ranking member Patrick McHenry have been working to reach an agreement on stablecoin legislation.

Under the latest version of the bill, it would be illegal to issue or create new “endogenously collateralised stablecoins” such as those similar to TerraUSD, the algorithmic stablecoin that collapsed earlier this year, according to a copy obtained by Bloomberg.

While Mr Dimon has been a vocal critic of Bitcoin, the company has been focused on using blockchain for financial services. JPMorgan uses its custom blockchain and token, JPM Coin, to conduct intraday repurchase agreements, which allows other financial institutions to take out short-term loans using high-quality collateral.

JPMorgan was also the first Wall Street bank to launch a presence in the metaverse in February.

Mr Dimon called Bitcoin a fraud in 2017. In October, he said it was worthless but that he would follow clients and recently acknowledged that decentralised finance — where banks are replaced by algorithms — is “real”.

EA Sports FC 25

Developer: EA Vancouver, EA Romania
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4&5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5

UAE currency

T20 World Cup Qualifier, Muscat

UAE FIXTURES

Friday February 18: v Ireland

Saturday February 19: v Germany

Monday February 21: v Philippines

Tuesday February 22: semi-finals

Thursday February 24: final

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Sukuk are Sharia-compliant financial certificates issued by governments, corporates and other entities. While as an asset class they resemble conventional bonds, there are some significant differences. As interest is prohibited under Sharia, sukuk must contain an underlying transaction, for example a leaseback agreement, and the income that is paid to investors is generated by the underlying asset. Investors must also be prepared to share in both the profits and losses of an enterprise. Nevertheless, sukuk are similar to conventional bonds in that they provide regular payments, and are considered less risky than equities. Most investors would not buy sukuk directly due to high minimum subscriptions, but invest via funds.

Oscars in the UAE

The 90th Academy Awards will be aired in the UAE from 3.30am on Monday, March 5 on OSN, with the ceremony starting at 5am

Three ways to boost your credit score

Marwan Lutfi says the core fundamentals that drive better payment behaviour and can improve your credit score are:

1. Make sure you make your payments on time;

2. Limit the number of products you borrow on: the more loans and credit cards you have, the more it will affect your credit score;

3. Don't max out all your debts: how much you maximise those credit facilities will have an impact. If you have five credit cards and utilise 90 per cent of that credit, it will negatively affect your score.