Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said JP Morgan chairman Jamie Dimon has “changed his tune” on Bitcoin and crypto, adding that he is ready to appoint the executive as Treasury Secretary .
Trump revealed the long-standing Bitcoin critic’s softening stance during a interview with Bloomberg, where he also called on the US to maintain dominance over the crypto sector. It is striking that the statements were made in June, despite the fact that the interview was only recently published.
Trump told the newswire:
“I got to know people in the industry, they are top people. And if you ask Jamie Dimon, Jamie Dimon was, you know, very negative and now all of a sudden he’s changed his tune a little bit.
In the same interview, Bloomberg asked Trump if he could choose Dimon as Treasury Secretary. Trump replied:
“He’s someone I would definitely consider.”
Trump described a June meeting with Dimon and other executives from top U.S. companies that coincided with meetings with members of the Republican Congress and Senate. Trump said JPM’s CEO was present and expressed “great respect” for the bank director.
In 2016, Fortune reported that Trump’s transition team offered Dimon the position during his first term. Dimon ultimately declined the role.
More recently, in December 2023, Axios reported on the possibility of Dimon running the Treasury Department, citing sources close to Trump’s campaign.
Dimon’s evolving point of view
Dimon has long criticized Bitcoin and crypto. As early as 2017he called Bitcoin a “fraud” and said he would fire every JP Morgan trader who traded Bitcoin.
At the start of the year, he reiterated his belief that crypto is a… Ponzi scheme And heavy criticism of Bitcoin mining. However, a few months later, in March, he also said he would “defend” the right to buy and hold Bitcoin even if he himself did not, indicating a softening stance.
Despite his negative statements about crypto, Dimon is a staunch supporter of the underlying blockchain technology. In 2022 he has support expressed for DeFi and blockchain, calling each area a “real, new technology” in a letter to JP Morgan shareholders.
JP Morgan has been at the forefront of experimenting with distributed ledger technology and has several blockchain-based products, including the Liink network and JPM Coin.