Bitcoin Daily: Jamie Dimon Couldn’t Care Less About Bitcoin; Dapper Labs Notches $15M For CryptoKitties

JPMorgan Chase CEO and Chairman Jamie Dimon is not a huge fan of bitcoin and offered a comment on the cryptocurrency’s 10th anniversary, Financial News reported. MarketWatch said “the gist of his response” was “I didn’t want to be the spokesman against bitcoin. I don’t really give [an expletitve] — that’s the point, OK?” The executive has long been a skeptic of bitcoin. He said the digital currency was a “terrible store of value” in 2014 and called it a fraud last year. (He later said that he regretted making the comment.) However, Dimon later noted that blockchain technology is “real” and “a technology,” although he has noted that “bitcoin is not the same as a fiat currency.”

In other news, the Department of Financial Services in New York said on Thursday (Nov. 1) that Coinsource’s virtual currency license has been approved, Reuters reported. The Financial Services’ Superintendent Maria T. Vullo said in a statement, “Today’s approval is a further step in implementing strong regulatory safeguards and effective risk-based controls, while encouraging the responsible growth of financial innovation.” The Texas-based company enables customers to buy and sell bitcoin with cash through its teller machines. It has over 200 machines in the District Of Columbia and 19 states.

CryptoKitties are bringing in some serious cash: Dapper Labs, which works on those digital cats, has notched funding of $15 million, CoinDesk reported. Venrock led the round with Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Google Ventures and others joining. Venrock Partner David Pakman said in an interview with the outlet that “for the first time, we can make scarce digital items, and I think that can usher in a mega-market of digital collectibles.” This latest round homes on the heels of a $12 million round that Union Square Ventures and a16z led. In all, the outlet noted that Dapper Labs has taken in $27 million in new funding in 2018.