JPMorgan chief executive officer Jamie Dimon’s recent comments that Bitcoin is a “fraud” have prompted outrage by one cryptocurrency startup. The firm is using Dimon’s words in a full-page advertisement running in the Wall Street Journal.
According to a report by CNBC, Eidoo, the Switzerland digital currency startup claiming to be a digital wallet for Ethereum, the second most popular cryptocurrency after Bitcoin, is gearing up to launch a debit card to spend cryptocurrency. It took direct aim at Dimon’s comments in advertising the new offering with a WSJ ad reading, “Maybe Jamie will fire you. But, you’ll be free to trade in the crypto-world.”
The ad is in reference to Dimon’s comments at a recent investor conference in which he spoke out against the cryptocurrency.
“The currency isn’t going to work,” Dimon said. “You can’t have a business where people can invent a currency out of thin air and think that people who are buying it are really smart.”
Dimon also said any JPMorgan traders working with the cryptocurrency would be fired on the spot for two reasons: It’s against the company’s rules, first of all, and secondly, Dimon feels it is “stupid.” His comments came as the price of Bitcoin had quadrupled since December and at one point flirted with a new high of $5,000.
“Don’t ask me to short it,” Dimon said, according to Reuters. “It could be at $20,000 before this happens, but it will eventually blow up. Honestly, I am just shocked that anyone can’t see it for what it is.”
While the startup likely paid a lot of money for the ad given a full page in the Wall Street Journal costs close to $250,000, it is a way to get a message out to those interested in cryptocurrency. With digital currency is facing a lot of backlash by regulators around the world and a ban by China, the startup is aiming to cut through all that noise, the CNBC report noted.
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