Morgan Stanley Says that Bitcoin’s True Value is Zero

JPMorgan’s Head of Blockchain Initiatives: Blockchain Will Have a ‘Radical Impact’ on Business Trust

JPMorgan’s head of blockchain initiatives believes that the technology will have a ‘radical impact’ in how businesses deliver trust between people.

Speaking during the Yahoo Finance All Markets Summit: Crypto, in New York, Umar Farooq, JPMorgan’s head of blockchain initiatives, said:

“I would say blockchain will have a radical impact on some of our businesses because some businesses are fundamentally geared toward putting people together, providing the trust between parties. And some of those things will obviously radically change as blockchain becomes some of that underlying infrastructure that provides and distributes trust.”

According to Farooq, ‘every line of business’ at the bank now has blockchain experts. In the early stages of development, the blockchain initiatives head said that the team was small; however, that’s not the case anymore. As a result, they are often approached by businesses who believe they can help.

JPMorgan’s CEO Jamie Dimon is also a big believer in the potential of the blockchain technology.

In October, it was reported that the Wall Street banking giant had teamed up with the Royal Bank of Canada and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group to launch a new payment processing network that utilises the blockchain technology. Called the Interbank Information Network (IIN), its aim will be to enable payments to reach individuals and companies faster with less steps and more security.

Aside from the confidence in the distributed ledger, Farooq is also onside with the potential that the cryptocurrency market has, and wouldn’t go as far as calling it ‘bad.’ Instead, he thinks that it just needs ‘some evolution.’

This is despite the fact that Dimon called bitcoin ‘a fraud’ and that it was ‘worth nothing,’ in September. At the time he also said that any employee found trading in it would be fired ‘in a second.’ Dimon has since said that he ‘regretted’ making those remarks. Interestingly, during the All Markets Summit, Farooq gave a more open-minded opinion by saying:

“I would say cryptocurrencies have issues. I think we need to figure out how those issues get solved.”

Even though he said there were plenty of positives with digital currencies, he also said there were some concerns such as the issue of money laundering. Notably, he added that the banking industry and regulators saw the potential in the cryptocurrency market, but that they need to know exactly who the customer is and where that money is coming from, adding:

“We think cryptocurrencies need some evolution.”