On 2nd take, Dimon is OK (a bit) with bitcoin

JP Morgan Chase Chief Executive Jamie Dim on on Thursday re treated from his anti-bitcoin bluster—just weeks after he called it a “fraud” and threatened to fire any of his employees whotrade the asset.

“I wouldn’t put this high in the category of ‘important things in the world,” Dimon quipped, when asked about bitcoin during a conference call to discuss his bank’s thirdquarter results.

The CEOsounded as if he was caught a bit too far over his skis, saying he didn’t want “to talk about bitcoin anymore.”

Dimon lieutenant Marianne Lake, the bank’s chief financial officer, further muddied the waters, saying the bank is “very openminded to the potential use-cases and future for digital currencies that are properly controlled and regulated.”

“We’re not going to not be part of that conversation,” Lake said. “We’ll have to see. It’s quite nascent.”

In a confusing aside right after that, Dimon said that the bank moves trillions of dollars a day “effectively digitally — it’s not cash.”

The comments came as the price of bit coin broke through the $5,000 mark early Thursday to hit an all-time high of $5,380 (before a $5,299.46 close) amid rumors China might reverse a ban oncryptocurrency exchanges.

While the buttoned-up world of Wall Street has largely eyed the digital currency with caution, bitcoin’s 470 percent rise this year has forced sometotake notice.

Dimon rival Lloyd Blankfein, the CEO of Goldman Sachs, tweeted Oct. 3 that he was “still thinking” about bitcoin. “Noconclusion — not endorsing/rejecting. Know that folks also were skeptical when paper money displaced gold.”