Benzinga | May 5, 2021 04:25PM EDT

JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon Still 'Doesn't Care About Bitcoin,' Even If His Clients Are

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon hasn't changed his views on Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) but has conceded to offer Bitcoin-centric financial products after significant demand from clients.

What Happened: "I'm not a bitcoin supporter. I don't care about bitcoin. I have no interest in it. On the other hand, clients are interested, and I don't tell clients what to do," he said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.

Dimon's statements come after a report last week indicated that JPMorgan was gearing up to launch an actively managed Bitcoin fund.

Sources familiar with the matter said that the fund would be exclusively offered to the bank's private wealth clients and provide them with direct exposure to the market-leading cryptocurrency.

Why It Matters: JPMorgan's Bitcoin fund would largely be considered a shift away from its CEO's philosophy regarding cryptocurrencies.

In the past, Dimon threatened to fire any JPMorgan employee for trading cryptocurrencies and called Bitcoin a scam.

"It's worse than tulip bulbs. It won't end well. Someone is going to get killed," he said in a Barclays PLC (LON: BRC) conference in September 2017.

However, in recent months, retail and institutional demand for Bitcoin has skyrocketed after the price surged above $64,000 in April.

See also: Here's Why JPMorgan Believes Ethereum Will Continue Growing Faster Than Bitcoin

By Dimon's own admission, his own views about Bitcoin remain hardly matter in light of these new levels of client demand.

Price Action: Bitcoin was trading at $57,489 at the time of writing, up 5.28%.

The market-leading cryptocurrency declined in value since its high of $64,706 on April 14 and has traded between $53,000 and $58,900 over the past seven days.

World Economic Forum via WikiCommons