JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said Tuesday that cryptocurrency is not worth the time of serious investors. His remarks came after a series of high profile blowups of crypto firms. "Crypto is a complete sideshow, OK? And you guys spend too much time on it. And I've made my views perfectly clear, that crypto tokens are like pet rocks," Dimon said on CNBC's " Squawk Box ." Crypto prices have fallen significantly this year, and exchange FTX filed for bankruptcy last month. Dimon's comments also come after Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called the collapse of FTX a "Lehman moment" for crypto at a New York Times DealBook event last week. Dimon has long been a skeptic of cryptocurrencies, though his bank does offer crypto research and some services . Dimon did say on Tuesday that there could be value in some of the crypto technology, if not the coins. "That doesn't mean blockchain is not real. That doesn't mean smart contracts won't be real or web 3.0. But cryptocurrencies that don't do anything? I don't know why people spend any time [on that]," Dimon said. Dimon also pointed out the use of crypto in criminal activity, saying that the industry should come under more scrutiny from government officials. "The regulators that are beating up on banks should maybe focus a little more on things like crypto," Dimon said. Bitcoin was up less than 1% on Tuesday morning, trading near $17,000.
