This morning on the homepage of CNBC.com appeared the following article:
To make this headline a bit more accurate for Jamie Dimon, it should be adjusted to read;
Jamie Dimon is at it again, sounding off that governments will shut down digital currencies if they grow too large.
Make no mistake, Jamie Dimon is not shy about criticizing governments which you can read about here when he claimed that, “It’s almost embarrassing being an American citizen.”
Dimon brings up many points about the dysfunction of our current government and political situation. But perhaps he is being reminded that U.S. and global citizens are just as frustrated with Central Banks like the U.S. Federal Reserve, the ECB, Bank of Japan, and global banking giants like JP Morgan as they are with politicians and governments.
Dimon seems to be concerned that with Bitcoin, Ethereum and various initial coin offerings (ICOs), there are now cryptocurrencies everywhere. “It’s creating something out of nothing that to me is worth nothing,” he said. “It will end badly.”
That’s exactly how a growing number of global citizens feel about fiat currencies like the U.S. Dollar, the Euro, and the Yen (amongst others). These fiat currencies are everywhere. They are created out of nothing and that to them is worth nothing. Global citizens also feel the current monetary system with unaudited central bankers will end badly.
Fiat currencies by their very nature rely upon the faith of the underlying currency between two parties. Why is it that two parties need a unit of measurement and currency that must be backed by untrusted governments and business institutions? Why can’t they just conduct business direct on their own if that is their preferred method of transacting global commerce and both parties agree upon the form of currency be it digital cryptocurrency, or a piece of paper?
Dimon feels inclined to warn everybody out of the goodness of his heart that governments will eventually crack down on cryptocurrencies and will attempt to control it by threatening anyone who buys or sells Bitcoin with imprisonment, which would force digital currencies into becoming a black market.
Thanks for the tip and warning Jamie Dimon. Dimon sounds a lot like a spokesman for the government of Venezuela. It’s there in Venezuela that anybody caught mining for Bitcoin is imprisoned. Since when is it the job of the government to imprison the very citizens that elected it to represent those same voters? When is it the government’s job to resist innovation? This is really a wakeup call for governments, global banks, and central bankers. The people are speaking to you. Are YOU LISTENING?!?!
When did we all forget that the people elect the government to work for the people? It’s the old, “For the people by the people.” What the government is always promising us is protection. They claim without them, citizens have no protection. But in many cases, what the citizens really want and what they are seeking is a way to be protected from the government and their related institutions. What global citizens want is a way to be protected from crony capitalism that is so prevalent with big global banks and Wall Street.
Let’s be clear, Jamie Dimon is sounding like a desperate man trying to protect his business franchise. Dimon and JP Morgan has billions to lose. Both, by definition, are partnered with the Federal Reserve and Central Bankers throughout the world. They are in the business of loaning out money that is created from thin air saddling borrowers with debt that is ultimately going to be unpayable. That’s how the JP Morgan’s of the world create cash flow and corporate earnings which allow those very institutions to pay their executives millions while their core employees are saddled with the debt that was created by their very employers.
Do global citizens really believe that Italy will repay its debts? Or Greece? Or Japan? Do we really believe that the U.S. won’t continuously expand their debt ceiling to perpetuity until it explodes on its own?
What Dimon and the rest of the Central Bankers are worried about is technological innovation and evolution that will make them obsolete. However, that’s the way the world always works. New technologies, processes, and systems replace old outdated methods that are no longer wanted or needed by global consumers.
The significance of cryptocurrencies is a thorn in the side of the Jamie Dimons of the world. The large institutions that control the current monetary system simply haven’t figured out a way to make money off the new innovation or control it. If they did or could, those institutions would change their tune very quickly as it would become a profit center adding to their earnings and bonuses.
But that’s the point of cryptocurrencies. Global citizens are screaming, begging, and pleading for ways to conduct business and transactions without government meddling, without central banks, without JP Morgan’s, and without Jamie Dimons.
These institutions have a huge problem on their hands. They know the people want a new way of conducting transactions between themselves without the meddling hands of governments. Thus, the governments that are losing their control and power over their debt laden systems will threaten users with imprisonment, brand them lunatics, and will eventually threaten them with physical harm or convict them with made up laws in the spirit of “national security.”
What they should really know is that the people of this world no longer want to do business THEIR way. They know that the people no longer trust THEIR currencies. They know that the people are not that interested in processing transactions through THEIR business franchises.
The people that seek blockchain technology and solutions are not all criminals but yet are branded as such. The vast majority of people interested in cryptocurrencies are not criminals. Maybe they are just citizens that don’t need to borrow money from JP Morgan. Maybe they just believe that the Jamie Dimons of the world are more concerned about protecting their business franchises while being married at the hip to central bankers whose main tool to fix any and all economic problems is to lend ever increasing amounts of money at falsely low interest rates with no accountability to any voter.
Of course, the Dimons of the world will claim that, “This will end badly,” or “people will lose all their money.” It is possible that things will go as badly as they did in past banking meltdowns when big banks needed bailouts from everyday taxpayers. It’s possible that maybe a cryptocurrency innovator will have to close its doors just like so many local and regional banks did when they made bad loans putting depositors and shareholders at risk. Or it’s possible that a particular cryptocurrency will be just as worthless as countless other fiat currencies backed at the time by governments that borrowed too much of their own worthless paper. Isn’t that part of capitalism and innovation? Since when is global innovation completely sheltered from individual failures?
But perhaps the greatest warning should not be coming FROM Jamie Dimon directed TO cryptocurrencies. Perhaps the greatest warning should be TO Jamie Dimon FROM cryptocurrency organizations. These innovators for cryptocurrency have Jamie Dimon and central bankers in their sights. If cryptocurrency organizers want any proof of concept, let the desperate pleas of Jamie Dimon to shut you down be your rallying cry. It’s time to lay on the throttle full steam ahead. You now have your business proof of concept. People want your innovation. Deliver it to them.