Jamie Dimon says he’s not going to talk about bitcoin anymore

Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Jamie Dimon, chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, said he is no longer going to discuss bitcoin after his comments last month that the digital currency was a “fraud” caused quite the stir on Wall Street and Silicon Valley.

“I wouldn’t put this high on the category of important things in the world. But I’m not going to talk about bitcoin anymore,” said Dimon in response to a question during the bank’s third-quarter earnings call with media on Thursday.

JPMorgan CFO Marianne Lake then took over the conversation.

“We are open-minded for digital currencies that are properly controlled and regulated,” she said, also discussing the potential merits of blockchain, the technology behind bitcoin.

Blockchain technology allows the immediate, secure transfer of funds anywhere in the world without a third party such as a bank to facilitate the transaction.

Dimon had the last word. “I was reminded that we move trillions of dollars a day … digitally. It’s not cash.”

Dimon told an investor conference last month that bitcoin was a fraud “worse than tulip bulbs.” His comments ran contrary to many on Wall Street who have begun to embrace, or at least experiment, with bitcoin and the blockchain technology it utilizes.