Specifically Jamie Dimon
In September of 2017, The CEO of JPMorgan Chase, Jamie Dimon, that if a JPMorgan trader was caught trading Bitcoin they would be fired in a second. It was against the rules and it was stupid. At the end of that month, Bitcoin closed at $4,338. News also came out that two associated firms to JPMorgan Chase not only were getting exposure to Bitcoin through Bitcoin Exchange-Traded-Notes and had applied over 170 times for a Blockchain Patent creating a “web cash” alternative.
Fast forward to the Bitcoin ETF approvals of 2024 and you could find JPMorgan as “Authorized Participants” in the Blackrock Bitcoin ETF although Jamie had been stating how Bitcoin should be banned. And now they’re providing direction on Bitcoin warning of a further dip post-halving I’m sure to scoop up a little more.
The last part was a just guess
If history has taught us anything, direction that could potentially drive prices of an asset lower might not be in the retail investors best interest. The suppression of silver and gold through paper, the Nancy Pelosi portfolio pumps, and big banks thoughts on Bitcoin (just check the news on that one) are all examples of how what big investors and banks say don’t match up with what they do. Some suspect it’s to buy the dip and make more money at the expense of the poor retail investor, which has been proven a few times especially around the silver / gold markets. So what do we do as innocent, confused retail investors that the SEC clearly tries to protect as seen in the Ripple VS SEC case? Well, do as they do not as they say!
How to do as they do
While we have shared information on metrics to look out for and think paying attention to The Feds calendar is smart, there are plenty of resources out there for you to keep track on your own. It does take more time to be informed, yet it saves you money in the long run. Here’s what I do…
1) I try to confirm the media source and information. If I see something about the Ripple case I check a few sources with different views. While the bias will be evident in both posts if you listen or read carefully you can pick out the objective information in each one and make your own assumption. It’s tough and I do get this wrong, but at least I tried.
2) When I was limited on resources I had to make a decision not to diversify, but go all in. I sold some of my stock and invested in real estate. It was a good decision that pumped my net worth and passive income. NOW I have diversified. This is typically how the wealthy retire early. The trick/luck/risk is finding an asset or opportunity that’s worth the risk. I’ll talk about this in the next newsletter.
3) I try to invest in things that would still provide growth/cash flow whether or not the economy is going great. Examples are Real Estate, owning your own business, metals, etc.
4) When I hear someone so loudly proclaiming how bad something is I’ll take a look at what they’re DOING (Jamie Dimon) or the companies associated are doing (JPMorgan Chase). It’s also worth noting paying attention to people that are a little more quiet but making moves (Nancy Pelosi with her $2M increase in Net Worth with an ~$200k salary).
