In January, Jamie Dimon Said Bitcoin Is A 'Ponzi'—But Look At JPMorgan's Crypto Moves Now

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon in 2025 maintained his skeptical stance towards Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), even as JPMorgan launched a $100 million Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) fund. The Verbal Offensive Continues Dimon’s public statements in 2025 maintained his reputation as a prominent crypto skeptic. Earlier in January, during a CBS “60 Minutes” interview, he asserted Bitcoin has no intrinsic value and linked it to sex trafficking, money laundering, and ransomware. By July, he compared Bitcoin ownership to smoking, saying JPMorgan clients can buy digital assets, but the bank won’t provide custody. Meanwhile, JPMorgan Built Crypto Infrastructure Behind the harsh words, JPMorgan executed one of the most aggressive blockchain expansion strategies of any major U.S. financial institution. In mid-December, JPMorgan Asset Management launched the My OnChain Net Yield Fund (MONY)—the bank’s first tokenized money-market fund built on the Ethereum blockchain. The bank seeded the fund with $100 million before opening it to qualified investors on December 16. Days later, JPMorgan reportedly considered offering cryptocurrency trading to institutional clients, including spot and derivatives. This marks a dramatic shift from Dimon’s 2017 threat to fire any employee caught trading Bitcoin. The 2025 Crypto Buildout The institutional buildout accelerated throughout the year. In October, JPMorgan announced plans to allow institutional clients to use Bitcoin and Ethereum as collateral for secured loans. A month later in November, the bank officially launched JPM Coin for institutional clients, enabling instant money transfers on Coinbase‘s Base blockchain. The competitive landscape drove urgency. BlackRock‘ BUIDL fund leads the tokenized money-market space with approximately $1.8 billion in assets. Meanwhile, the total tokenized treasury market reached approximately $7.3 billion in 2025, representing a 256% year-over-year increase. The Softening: “Blockchain Is Real” Despite maintaining his Bitcoin criticism, Dimon’s tone toward blockchain technology evolved noticeably. At the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit in October, he made a significant concession: blockchain technology is legitimate and will be widely adopted. Later that month at Saudi Arabia’s Future Investment Initiative, he went further, acknowledging that crypto technologies including blockchains, stablecoins, and smart contracts are genuine innovations. The nuance became clearer: Dimon distinguishes between Bitcoin, which he views as speculative and fraudulent, and blockchain infrastructure, which he sees as transformative for institutional finance. Read Next: XRP Crashes 48% From July High: Did Ripple Spend $2.7B In Vain In 2025? Image: Shutterstock