Then: “Bitcoin is a fraud” – Now: JPMorgan launches their cryptocurrency

penglund February 15, 2019 216 0

“It’s a fraud, it will blow up. It’s just not a real thing, eventually it will be closed”.

“It’s worse than tulip bulbs. It won’t end well. Someone is going to get killed”.

The man behind those two quotes about Bitcoin is of course Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase. The same company that recently announced they are launching their own cryptocurrency – JPM Coin.

So is this terrible news, or is it something positive? I’m asking this from a perspective that’s not coming from the JPMorgans’s of the world.

“This is like bitcoin put on a business suit, got an MBA, went to business school, decided to become respectable. It’s a cryptocurrency, but it’s backed by one of the world’s biggest banks,” This is another quote from Hugh Son who is a banking reporter at CNBC ((@Hugh_Son) https://cnb.cx/2DEXGsc)

Brief history lesson

Bitcoin was created by the still unknown person, or group of people called Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009 (whitepaper released in 2008). It was very much created as a response of the 2008 financial crisis. But the notion and concept of a digital and decentralised currency had existed longer than that. The idea of a currency not owned or controlled by one or a few people/companies was very much the foundation of what Bitcoin really was, and is today?

It’s kinda obvious isn’t it? The banks and the Governments were very much the reason for the crisis. And the normal everyday people were the one’s who got to pick up the shit. The concept of Bitcoin was the answer to that. It was clear that we couldn’t trust the banks. So Bitcoin was born. A currency that wasn’t own by the banks. Or controlled by the Governments.

Concept lesson – what is a cryptocurrency

The Wikipedia definition of what a cryptocurrency is:

A cryptocurrency is a digital asset designed to work as a medium of exchange that uses strong cryptography to secure financial transactions, control the creation of additional units, and verify the transfer of assets. Cryptocurrencies use decentralised control as opposed to centralized digital currency and central banking systems.

Did you notice the world decentralised? And the sentence “as opposed to centralized digital currency and central banking systems”?

Now with the ICO mania that has taken place in the last years and the sheer amount of new blockchain startups. All with their own cryptocurrency created, the meaning of what a cryptocurrency absolutely is. And what the absolute remits of it, has perhaps evolved. Or rather explored different definitions.

Reality lesson – what is JPM Coin

The JPM Coin will be running on top of Quorum. Which is the private version of Ethereum the bank developed in conjunction with EthLab. But it will “subsequently extended to other platforms. JPM Coin will be operable on all standard Blockchain networks,” according to their FAQ.

So should we f****** care about JPM Coin? Might it even be something positive?

So now when JPMorgan rolls out a business Bitcoin, what does it mean?

I seriously doubt that people who still believe in Bitcoin as it was originally intended cares too much about the JPM Coin. I doubt that huge amount of serious talents around the world that works on various cryptocurrency projects will be scared about these news. Or that they will change their plans. For some it might even be a kick up their rears to increase their efforts, or reaffirm their pursuits of a truly decentralised currency.

But sure if you consider someone today who doesn’t that much about cryptocurrencies. They might find it hard to distinguish between a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin, and the new JPM Coin. The latter being a currency that is completely controlled by that same bank. And a currency that is truly (or aims to be at least) decentralised, run by regular people around world (or huge mining factories around world…).

What’s your take on that JPMorgan rolls out business Bitcoin? Could it be something positive? Or is another corporative initiative that we can easily ignore in the end? Feel free to leave your comments below!

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Written by:

Per Englund – Founder of Go CryptoWise a cryptocurrency and tech fan that wants to see better and smarter products and services that makes our lives better and easier