Jamie Dimon, CEO of investment bank JPMorgan Chase, once again criticized Bitcoin on the 17th, stating that it has no practical use and is only used for illicit activities such as sex trafficking, tax evasion, and money laundering. He also expressed doubts about the claim that the supply of Bitcoin is limited to 21 million coins, suggesting that Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin, could change the supply limit.
Jamie Dimon, who has consistently criticized Bitcoin, made these remarks during an interview with CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. While he criticized Bitcoin for its illicit uses, he acknowledged that blockchain technology is real and that JPMorgan Chase also utilizes it.
Dimon mentioned that there are two types of cryptocurrencies. The first type is cryptocurrencies that incorporate smart contracts, allowing users to buy and sell real estate and transfer data. He expressed support for tokenization use cases, which aligns with recent remarks from Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, who asserted that tokenizing all financial assets will be the next trend.
However, Dimon referred to the second type of cryptocurrency as “cryptocurrencies with no use at all.” He compared Bitcoin to a pet rock and advised against using it. Nevertheless, he also stated that he defends people’s right to use Bitcoin, as the United States is a free country.
When discussing the issue of the limited supply of Bitcoin, Dimon expressed skepticism about the claim that there will only be 21 million coins. He further stated:
“There are two things you don’t know about Bitcoin: how much supply there really is in the world and how governments will react to it.”
Dimon’s remarks have received widespread criticism in the cryptocurrency community. On one hand, his statements are generally inaccurate, and on the other hand, he mispronounced Satoshi Nakamoto’s name as “Satashi.” In fact, while Nakamoto created Bitcoin, he does not have control over the Bitcoin blockchain or miners.
The maximum supply of Bitcoin is indeed 21 million coins, which is hardcoded into its source code. Any modifications would require consensus among miners. However, given that miners have been benefiting from the current mechanism for years, it is unlikely that they would make adjustments.
Furthermore, any changes that do not achieve consensus would result in a fork of the Bitcoin blockchain, creating two separate chains instead of just creating a minority consensus chain. Miners must obtain majority support for a new Bitcoin network. Bitcoin Cash (BCH) was created in 2017 with the support of a minority of miners and remains separate from Bitcoin to this day.
Dimon’s claim that Bitcoin will be eradicated is also inaccurate. The Bitcoin supply can only be destroyed if all Bitcoin holders decide to transfer their funds to an irreversible or burn address. Although a significant portion of the Bitcoin supply has been sent to such addresses, burning only increases the relative value of the circulating Bitcoins.
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