Most Of Crypto 'Still Junk,' JPMorgan Blockchain Head Says — Despite Bank's Increased Interest In DeFi

JPMorgan's head of blockchain believes that most cryptocurrencies have a short lifespan. 

What Happened: Umar Farooq, CEO of JPMorgan’s blockchain unit Onyx, talked at a seminar hosted by the Monetary Authority of Singapore on Monday about the implications of lagging cryptocurrency regulations. 

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“Most of crypto is still junk actually, I mean with the exception of I would say, a few dozen tokens, everything else that has been mentioned is either noise or frankly, is just gonna go away,” he said.

Aside from the speculation that arises, Farooq doesn’t believe that cryptocurrencies have enough use cases in their current state. 

Farooq thinks that the cryptocurrency market needs to mature enough to have proper regulations in place for greater traction among big financial institutions. 

“Right now, we’re just not there yet, most of the money that’s being used in Web3 today, in the current infrastructure, is for speculative investment,” he said.

Why It Matters: The JPMorgan executive’s statements come despite the firm’s increased interest in the decentralized economy. Earlier this year, JPMorgan opened a blockchain-based virtual lounge in Decentraland MANA/USD named after its blockchain unit Onyx.

The firm also published an 18-page report describing the metaverse as a $1 trillion market opportunity. In July 2021, JPMorgan forecast that Ethereum’s ETH/USD shift to Proof-of-Stake could kickstart a $40 billion staking industry by 2021.

Price Action: JPMorgan shares were trading 0.17% lower after hours. Bitcoin BTC/USD was trading at $20,341, up 0.90% and ETH was trading at $1,591, up 4% over the last day, as per data from Benzinga Pro.

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