ARK Invest founder Cathie Wood and Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse have responded to recent critical remarks about Bitcoin made by JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon.
In an interview with CNBC, Dimon described the leading cryptocurrency as a useless asset lacking intrinsic value.
Today, JPM’s Jamie Dimon called blockchain technology small, and added that bitcoin, a derivative of blockchain technology, is the equivalent of a “pet rock”. Data flies in the face of Jamie’s description, as @yassineARK, our Director of Digital Assets, highlights here! https://t.co/TsSDyTTyuk
— Cathie Wood (@CathieDWood) January 19, 2024
“Today, Jamie Dimon from JPM called blockchain technology insignificant and added that Bitcoin, as a derivative of it, is the equivalent of a “pet rock”. Data challenges this description,” wrote Wood.
She referred to a tweet by ARK Investment’s Director of Digital Assets, Yassine Elmandjra, who highlighted some technical aspects of the cryptocurrency network:
- The hash rate has reached 500 EH/s, equating to 5 billion calculations per second;
- This figure is 67 times the number of grains of sand on Earth;
- In terms of operations, the blockchain is approximately 500 times more productive than the most powerful supercomputer.
“Yet there are skeptics who still believe that ‘Bitcoin is backed by nothing’,” concluded Elmandjra.
Brad Garlinghouse, in an interview with Fox Business, addressed another of Dimon’s criticisms of cryptocurrency: that its sole use case is facilitating illegal activities.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse breaks down the impact of the new Bitcoin ETFs and the future of crypto regulations pic.twitter.com/8McHdfijhL
— Mornings with Maria (@MorningsMaria) January 18, 2024
According to the Ripple CEO, wrongdoers “will always use any new tool.” In this context, he emphasized Bitcoin’s innovative potential and the importance of regulation. Garlinghouse believes that focus should be on implementing anti-money laundering measures and KYC procedures.
Casa co-founder and CTO Jameson Lopp responded to Dimon’s assertions that the issuance of the first cryptocurrency might not be limited to 21 million coins. The JPMorgan chief has repeatedly made such claims.
Jamie Dimon thinks Satoshi will come back one day and print more Bitcoin.
“How do you know it will stop at 21 million?” He keeps asking YEAR after YEAR after YEAR.
Bro it’s 5 LINES OF CODE and not even Satoshi can force us to change it! pic.twitter.com/315ukGolx7
— Jameson Lopp (@lopp) January 17, 2024
“Jamie Dimon thinks that one day Satoshi will return and print more bitcoins. […] Bro, here are five lines of code, and even he cannot make us change it!” wrote Lopp.
Back in December 2023, the CEO of JPMorgan urged the U.S. government to “shut down” cryptocurrencies during a meeting with lawmakers.