JPMorgan CEO Calls for More Regulatory Clarity for Cryptocurrencies

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon addressed the key issues that needed to be improved within the financial sector in his annual letter to his shareholders.

Dimon called the year 2020 an “extraordinary year” financially, despite the covid-19 pandemic and the economic turmoil it wrecked. Amid the list of things that would bring financial innovation in the United States to another level, Dimon cited the need for regulatory clarity for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

“There are serious emerging issues that need to be dealt with – and rather quickly: the growth of shadow banking, the legal and regulatory status of cryptocurrencies, the proper and improper use of financial data, the tremendous risk that cybersecurity poses to the system,” the JPMorgan CEO wrote.

Dimon added that “regulators need to decide what they want included in the regulatory system – and what they don’t want included.”

The JP Morgan CEO seems to have adapted his stance towards cryptocurrencies after having previously called Bitcoin a “fraud.”  With the emerging growth experienced by Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, many in the banking sector have come to recognize the budding potential of digital assets as a store of value and a hedge against inflation. However, as the cryptocurrency industry is still nascent, regulatory clarity for crypto is still lacking and the way it is regulated seems to differ from one region to another.

Dimon’s call for a clearer regulatory status for cryptocurrencies echoes that of many industry experts. Recently, institutional giants Square, Fidelity, Paradigm, and Coinbase joined forces and created a cryptocurrency council.

Dubbed “The Crypto Council for Innovation,” the board aims to lobby policymakers and make them understand the promising potential of cryptocurrencies. Additionally, the council seeks to prompt regulators to develop clearer regulations that will enable innovation in the industry to continue.