In the company’s 2020 Annual Report to shareholders, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon is taking a look at Bitcoin and cryptocurrency and calls for more regulatory clarity.
Regulatory Clarity to Chart Future of Cryptocurrencies
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon was once known as the least friendly face in crypto circles. He simply didn’t see the point of people investing in crypto in the first place. Over the years, though, and with renewed interest by institutional investors in currencies such as Bitcoin, Dimon has changed tact.
In the 2020 Annual Report to shareholders, Dimon quickly went through crypto and emphasized the importance of having a clear-cut regulatory environment to operate in. Dimon talked about the urgency of the issue, as he argued that “there are serious emerging issues that need to be dealt with: the growth of shadow banking, the legal and regulatory status of cryptocurrencies.”
Dimon is cautiously optimistic about the future. Predicting an economic boom in the United States, he believes that the potential upsurge in economic activity could easily spill over to other areas, including Bitcoin and crypto. For the country to benefit from that, though, regulators would have to step in and establish clear regulatory environments, he argues.
Crypto has already enjoyed quite a bit of boost. Outside of the NFT trend, which is rocking the digital world, PayPal and Tesla have both invested copiously in Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, and they have been enjoying the windfall.
Long-Term Outlook Looking Good for Bitcoin
Dimon’s report comes at the same time as JPMorgan is predicting a possible long-term valuation for Bitcoin, sitting at $146,000. Morgan Stanley, a competitor, has welcomed wealthy clients into its cryptocurrency bosom and will now issue recommendations about what investment options to pursue.
Dimon did mention shadow banking in his report but didn’t directly tie it to the rise of Bitcoin. However, he cautioned that FinTech companies are increasingly supplanting the need for dedicated banking institutions such as JPMorgan.
While threats may persist, investors such as Tesla have generated solid returns off Bitcoin investment. The automaker posted $1 billion in profit on Bitcoin after just a few months of investing $1.5 billion. That is more than the company earned from an entire year of car sales in 2020.
Bitcoin is here to stay, and Dimon is now looking into regulatory specifics. With the three-month volatility in the currency dropping, the outlook is reassuring.