JPMorgan Chase Taps Ex-Celsius Exec To Lead Crypto - What's Dimon's Stance On Bitcoin, Ethereum Now? - (CEL/USD), Bitcoin (BTC/USD)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM is deepening its crypto talent bench with a former Celsius Network CEL/USD employee.

The New York-based firm hired Aaron Iovine as executive director of digital assets regulatory policy. According to Iovine’s LinkedIn profile, he was with Celsius from February until September (it went bankrupt in July).

His new boss, JPMorgan chief executive officer Jamie Dimon, is notorious for being a vocal opponent of cryptocurrencies. Just last month, Dimon called cryptocurrencies fraudulent and likened them to a Ponzi scheme.

At Celsius, Iovine was head of policy and regulatory relations. As risk assets like Bitcoin BTC/USD and Ethereum ETH/USD began to lose value due to the tightening of monetary policy in July, Celsius filed for chapter 11.

It has since been speculated that JPMorgan’s rival, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. GS, was circling the troubled startup and looking to buy up distressed Celsius assets.

The collapse of TerraUSD USTC/USD and Luna LUNA/USD, two significant cryptocurrencies, in May increased pressure on the cryptocurrency market.

Interestingly, immediately before filing for bankruptcy, other top Celsius executives withdrew $17 million in cryptocurrency. According to documents, Alexander Mashinsky’s ex-wife Kristine Mashinsky seems to have taken more than $2 million from the CEL token on May 31.

Dimon’s Rant Against Cryptos

The 66-year-old JPMorgan honcho has often referred to crypto assets as “worthless” and advises investors to avoid them.

“I am a major skeptic on crypto tokens, which you call currency like Bitcoin,” he said during a congressional testimony last month. “They are decentralized Ponzi schemes and the notion that it’s good for anybody is unbelievable. So we sit here in this room and talk about a lot of things, but $2 billion have been lost. Every year, $30 billion in ransomware.”

Next: NFT Tax In The US? IRS Shifts Focus From ‘Virtual Currency’ To ‘Digital Assets’