Jamie Dimon, the CEO of banking heavyweight JPMorgan, has acknowledged the importance of smart contracts-based cryptocurrencies, in stark contrast to his views on Bitcoin BTC/USD.
What happened: During a CNBC interview in January 2023, the CEO of the world's most valuable banking company stated that cryptocurrencies with embedded smart contracts possess value.
"There's a cryptocurrency which might actually do something. Think of a cryptocurrency that has an embedded smart contract in it and that we can use it to buy and sell real estate and move data. That may have value,” he said.
It's important to understand the difference. While Bitcoin is commonly used as a digital currency for transactions and a store of value, blockchains like Ethereum ETH/USD enable the development of smart contracts and decentralized applications.
This is the reason why a plethora of decentralized exchanges, banks, and tokenization platforms are built atop Ethereum.
See Also: GameStop-Themed Cryptos Soar After Vivek Ramaswamy Co-Founded Firm’s CEO Urges Bitcoin Investment: Graduate From Being ‘Meme Stock’ To Sector Leader
Dimon's views hold weight as JPMorgan has made significant investments in ETH through spot exchange-traded funds.
Ethereum ETFs began trading on U.S. exchanges in July of last year. According to a 13F filing, the bank owned a combined stake worth $39,695 in Grayscale Ethereum Trust ETF ETHE, Fidelity Ethereum Fund FETH, and iShares Ethereum Trust ETF ETHA.
| ETFs Owned | Shares Held | Market Value | Effective Date |
| Grayscale Ethereum Trust ETF | 1,046 | $29,309 | Dec. 31, 2024 |
| iShares Ethereum Trust ETF | 300 | $7,587 | Dec. 31, 2024 |
| Fidelity Ethereum Fund | 80 | $2,673 | Dec. 31, 2024 |
| Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust ETF | 4 | $126 | Dec. 31, 2024 |
It’s worth noting that Dimon hasn’t publicly endorsed Ethereum or any specific smart contract-based cryptocurrency, for that matter. Benzinga reached out to JPMorgan to understand if the ETF investments were shaped by Dimon’s views. The bank didn’t immediately respond to the inquiry.
Price Action: At the time of writing, Ethereum was exchanging hands at $$2,143.26, down 7.25% in the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro. The cryptocurrency has plunged over 30% in the last month.
Image via Shutterstock
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