Bitcoin: Michael Saylor Claps Back at JPMorgan CEO’s ‘Pet Rock’ Remark

In response to Jamie Dimon’s Bitcoin “pet rock” analogy earlier, MicroStrategy’s former CEO Michael Saylor has made a sarcastic statement.

The Epic Clapback

The CEO of JPMorgan Chase reiterated his anti-Bitcoin stance in an interview with CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on January 16. Dimon advised the public to avoid investments in BTC citing that cryptocurrencies including BTC hold little to no intrinsic value, further likening them to “pet rocks.”

Saylor’s reply was rather epic, “If you encounter a strange new asset (“Pet Rock”) circulating on a blockchain that ‘does nothing’ other than allow people to own something they can ‘trade among themselves’ without fear of debasement or theft, you have just discovered digital money. #Bitcoin.”

If you encounter a strange new asset ("Pet Rock") circulating on a blockchain that "does nothing" other than allow people to own something they can "trade among themselves" without fear of debasement or theft, you have just discovered digital money. #Bitcoin

— Michael Saylor⚡️ (@saylor) January 17, 2024

Additionally, the crypto community reacted similarly to the description of Bitcoin made by Dimon. An X crypto member commented under Saylor’s post, pointing out that he was going to add the new “pet rock” tag to his long list which already contains 13 names for Bitcoin. 

A few of these names are “pristine collateral”, “a technology”, “a store of value” and many others.

Jamie Dimon Remains Critical of Bitcoin

Dimon has been a long-term critic of BTC, constantly stating that the digital currency has no value. “… the actual use cases are sex trafficking, tax avoidance, anti-money laundering, terrorism financing; it’s not just people buying and selling bitcoin. There’s no value if you’re buying and selling bitcoin,” he once said.

Galaxy Digital founder and CEO Mike Novogratz once tagged Dimon’s slander of Bitcoin an “epitome of hypocrisy” during a Squawk Box show when Andrew Ross Sorkin, the host recounted the bold outburst on BTC by JPMorgan CEO. 

Novogratz also highlighted that Dimon has constantly been wrong in his predictions and sentiments around Bitcoin. 

It is only logical for Saylor to react in this manner towards Dimon’s description of Bitcoin. As the co-founder of the non-crypto company with the largest BTC holding, Michael Saylor’s love for the coin is at its peak. MicroStrategy has a Bitcoin strategy that it has constantly engaged, earning it the title of the largest Bitcoin holder.

As of December 2023, the company boasted of almost 190,000 BTC units.