Since the advent of BTC and cryptocurrencies, there have been several critics of digital currencies, tagging them as fads and unprintable names. Unfortunately, most of these critics are reputable individuals, CEOs, or heads of government agencies. However, a handful of them have been retracing their stance on crypto assets. Similarly, most government officials and institutional CEOs casting aspersion on crypto have either seen their government heads or institutions reversing their stance on crypto trading/investment or benefiting from crypto-related services. For clarity, several crypto critics have opted to take advantage of the crypto market, with more corporate entities adding crypto, mostly Bitcoin, to their balance sheets. According to Bitcoin Treasuries, there are 214 entities currently holding BTC, with 116 public companies. Meanwhile, 3.38 million BTC are held in Treasuries, with over 1.3 million BTC held in ETFs and other funds, while over 800k BTC were held in Treasuries by public companies and governments holding over 527 BTC. Bitcoin Treasuries Below are a few notable crypto critics and their turnaround. 1. Michael Saylor Michael Saylor is one of the earliest critics of cryptocurrency. He tweeted in 2013 that "Bitcoin days are numbered," stressing that it will crash like online gambling. However, he became a diamond hand within the crypto space, being one of the largest holders of BTC. His company, MicroStrategy, started stockpiling BTC on August 11, 2020, and later became the largest public company holding BTC with its current 580,250 BTC, according to data. data Saylor became a crypto advocate after being a critic. On February 28, 2025, he went viral for his "Sell a kidney if you must..." comment, expressing how he deeply believed in BTC and the entire crypto space. 2. Warren Buffett The sixth-richest man and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett, is another notable Bitcoin critic. The Nonagenarian told CNBC's Becky Quick in February 2020 that Bitcoin has no value. He said, "Cryptocurrencies basically have no value, and they don't produce anything," adding, "I don't have any cryptocurrency and I never will." Mr Buffet has been a clear critic of crypto without mincing words to denigrate its existence on several occasions. However, his company has been silently profiting from a partnered crypto-affiliated company. Berkshire Hathaway invested in a Brazilian digital bank firm, Nu Holdings, in 2021. The company forayed into the partnership by investing $500 million in a series G funding round in Q2 2021, followed by another $250 million investment in Q4 2021. Meanwhile, Nu Holdings established its crypto platform 'Nubank Cripto' in 2022, allowing users to send, receive, and exchange crypto tokens for fiat. According to Investors.com, Berkshire Hathaway controls over 40 million shares of Nu Holdings. This means Buffett's company generates streams of profit from the same crypto he doesn't believe in. Investors.com 3. Xi Jinping The President of the People's Republic of China is another notable critic of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. He's the first among the most powerful world leaders to have openly criticized crypto and made it illegal in the second-largest country by population after India. China has been imposing strict capital controls to keep its capital within the country rather than overseas. This motivated the government's penchant to replace dominant Western platforms with domestic platforms (as in the case of replacing Google with Baidu, Facebook with WeChat, YouTube with Youku, Twitter with Weibo, TikTok with Douyin, etc.). The Chinese government officially banned crypto through its People's Bank of China (PoBC; its central bank) in 2017, forcing local crypto exchanges to shut down and ordering banks to prevent crypto-related transactions. Since China began its crackdown on crypto-related activities in the country, including the banning and forcing of crypto mining entities and their operations out of the country to states like Wyoming and Texas in the US, the country has maintained a controversial stance on cryptocurrencies. The Chinese government has a record of strongly advocating for blockchain development in the country. Since the country has a penchant for dominating its market space with domestic content, China is aiming to be at the forefront of blockchain development to domesticate blockchain development and usage to maintain its capital within its shores. In 2019, while addressing the country's National People's Congress, the Chinese President said, "We must take the blockchain as an important breakthrough for independent innovation of core technologies, clarify the main direction, increase investment, and accelerate the development of blockchain technology." said Since then, the government has funded several blockchain developments for non-crypto-related use cases, as it also established a national blockchain research centre in May 2023. Meanwhile, China created its digital Yuan e-CNY in 2020. The CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency) has since been promoted and integrated into several payment solutions in the country. According to Triple A, in 2023, over 78 million Chinese own cryptocurrency, representing 5.5% of the Chinese population. Triple A Furthermore, one of the Special Administrative Regions of China, Hong Kong, has become a hotspot for crypto trading and crypto-related activities, and the region keeps getting applauded by the Chinese government. With the US and other countries pushing for a Bitcoin/crypto reserve, the Chinese government might reconsider its stance to avoid being left out of crypto supremacy. 4. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is another open critic of Bitcoin and crypto, and he believes his country is "at war with Bitcoin." In April 2021, Turkey banned the use of crypto for payments, but the President's stance on crypto began reversing when he made a surprising announcement at a news conference in December 2021 that he would support legislation to promote the legal use of crypto in the country. In October 2022, President Erdoğan made headlines when he disclosed that the country seeks to establish its own Metaverse while also advising the youth to partake in innovations like blockchain technology rather than just "turning to crypto money gambling that has no basis." banned announcement However, the Turkish government drafted a bill aiming to regulate the crypto industry in the country in May 2024. The bill covers licensing requirements, prevention of market abuses, AML compliance, etc. In July 2024, Turkey implemented its "Crypto Law," establishing a regulatory framework for Crypto Assets Service Providers (CASPs), AML/CFT compliance, and penalties for unlawful activities, such as embezzling crypto assets. According to Statista, Turkey's crypto market is expected to peak at $1.7 billion in 2025. Statista 5. Christine Lagarde President of the European Central Bank (ECB) Christine Lagarde is another top Bitcoin critic. The first female ECB president claimed Bitcoin consumes a considerable amount of electricity and is also used to finance terrorism and facilitate money laundering. Her reasons seem logical until one realizes that fiat currencies and traditional financial institutions have been used for these purposes and several more crimes hitherto. According to CNBC, in May 2022, Lagarde claimed crypto was "worth nothing" and added, "It is based on nothing." CNBC The French lawyer-cum-politician admitted in November 2023 that one of her sons lost "about 60%" of his crypto investment, citing that he later agreed with her stance on crypto regulation. Meanwhile, as Lagarde appeared to be controversial and divided between Bitcoin and crypto critics, she has been an advocate of regulating the crypto industry. Her mixed reaction of being hostile to Bitcoin and giving a nod to other crypto tokens has been evident. According to Reuters, Lagarde clapped at her Czech colleague in January 2025 when Ales Michl hinted that the Czech Republic would include Bitcoin in its reserve. She expressed her confidence that "Bitcoins won't enter the reserves of any of the central banks of the General Council." Reuters Despite her controversial stance, Lagarde has been an advocate of CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency). She recently noted at a press conference on April 17 that the EU's CBDC, digital Euro, would be launched in 2025, citing October as the deadline. Meanwhile, the EU has been at the forefront of crypto regulation with its comprehensive MiCAR (Market in Crypto-Assets Regulation), which aims to regulate the crypto landscape in the EU. Despite the regulatory architecture of MiCAR to sanitize and harmonize the European crypto space, the ECB is still sceptical, advocating for additional safeguards and revisions, especially with the hegemony of USD-backed stablecoins. 6. Hillary Clinton and Janet Yellen Former First Lady and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is also a notable crypto critic, but her criticism was guided by fear of the possibility of undermining the US dollar's global hegemony. The former presidential candidate in the 2016 election commented on a panel discussion at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum (in Singapore) in November 2021 that crypto "has the potential for undermining currencies, for undermining the role of the dollar as the reserve currency, for destabilizing nations, perhaps starting with small ones but going much larger." However, the same crypto is currently aimed at by the Trump administration to maintain US dollar hegemony, especially the US dollar-pegged stablecoins. Bloomberg New Economy Forum US dollar hegemony Similarly, former US Secretary of the Treasury and Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen is another notable Bitcoin/crypto critic, considering the significance of her separate roles in the past. In 2021, when Bitcoin first attained its all-time high of $69,000, Yellen criticized Bitcoin as an "extremely inefficient way to transfer money," adding, "It is a highly speculative asset and you know I think people should be aware it can be extremely volatile and I do worry about potential losses that investors can suffer." However, she acknowledged that crypto payments are faster, safer, and cheaper. Meanwhile, both Clinton and Yellen are no longer government officials; the Trump administration has clearly demonstrated its support for crypto in various ways. Since President Donald Trump assumed office, he has signed multiple Executive orders in favour of the crypto industry and hosted a White House Summit on crypto. His crypto advocacy also resulted in the US government planning to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR), which states like Arizona, Texas, Florida, Ohio, Oklahoma, etc., are also pursuing in their respective legislative house. President Trump's crypto-friendly aura has also seen the SEC dropping charges against several crypto firms and executives, including Coinbase, OpenSea, Gemini, etc., with the crypto market reacting positively. 7. Gary Gensler Former SEC chair Gary Gensler is a controversial crypto critic with a mixed crypto stance. His tenure approved a handful of crypto-related ETFs, but he also championed punitive measures against several crypto executives and companies. Gensler was formerly a crypto advocate during his MIT days, but his ascension to the SEC drastically changed his stance on crypto, deeming it a security that should be regulated under the SEC. His stance on crypto as securities led to his hostility towards the crypto industry, tagging crypto assets as unregistered securities. As such, several crypto projects, exchanges, and executives were prosecuted by the SEC, including Coinbase, Gemini, OpenSea, Binance (and its founder, Changpeng Zhao), etc. However, the electoral victory of President Donald Trump changed the crypto atmosphere across the SEC and its executives, who held the same punitive stance as the former chair. Gensler resigned the day President Trump assumed office, and Mark Uyeda was appointed acting chair pending the Senate confirmation of President Trump's nominee, Paul Atkins. Uyeda spearheaded several crypto reforms in the SEC, beginning with the SEC's crypto task force. Aside from this, several crypto-related lawsuits were dropped or dismissed with the open arms of President Trump and his cabinet, including the SEC acting chair and the agency. Since then, the SEC has played an essential role in friendly crypto regulation, with multiple crypto summits and roundtables. For instance, the crypto task force was charged with reviewing most crypto rules proposed by the Biden administration, with the possibility of repealing most of them. Uyeda's leadership gave a fresh breath to the SEC regarding crypto, and this has continued since Paul Atkins took the reins in April 2025. The same SEC that was used to traumatize the crypto industry is now an advocate, championing crypto roundtables and summits. 8. Jamie Dimon The CEO of the largest US bank, JPMorgan Chase, Jamie Dimon, is another vocal critic of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. He's one of the most controversial critics of crypto, as he reportedly stated at an Institute of International Finance conference in October 2021 that Bitcoin is worthless. He said, "I personally think that Bitcoin is worthless." However, his bank has been offering crypto-related services to its customers, claiming that "Our clients are adults," adding, "If they want to have access to buy or sell Bitcoin, we can't custody it." Prior to the 2021 comment, Dimon criticized Bitcoin in a 2014 interview with CNBC, saying, "It's a terrible store of value, it can be replicated over and over. It doesn't have the standing of a government." CNBC Furthermore, in September 2017, Bloomberg reported Dimon calling Bitcoin a "Fraud," claiming it's "worse than Tulip bulbs." He also threatened to fire any JPMorgan trader found trading Bitcoin. However, JPMorgan launched its blockchain initiative in October 2017 for interbank payments. According to CNBC, Dimon said, "If you're stupid enough to buy it [Bitcoin], you'll pay the price for it one day." According to him, he deemed his daughter "formerly smart" when she informed him of owning 2 BTC after his criticism. Bloomberg CNBC him "We are going to have some kind of digital currency at some point," Dimon said. "I'm not against crypto. You know, bitcoin itself has no intrinsic value. It's used heavily by sex traffickers, money launderers, ransomware," says Dimon in an interview with CBS News' Lesley Stahl on January 12, 2025. We are going to have some kind of digital currency at some point," Dimon said. "I'm not against crypto. You know, bitcoin itself has no intrinsic value. It's used heavily by sex traffickers, money launderers, ransomware, Meanwhile, according to Dimon, JPMorgan processes $6 trillion daily across the globe, and the bank doesn't do that in cash; "it's done digitally. If it can be done digitally with the blockchain, so be it." According to a January 2018 interview with Fox Business, Dimon regretted calling Bitcoin a fraud in 2017. However, JPMorgan launched its JPM Coin in 2019. The dollar-backed stablecoin was built on the Quorum consortium blockchain to facilitate rapid and secure interbank payments and settlements, processing a billion dollars’ worth of transactions daily. Aside from Quorum, JPMorgan also owns Kinexys blockchain, formerly Onyx. The bank probably renamed its Onyx blockchain to Kinexys to avoid being mistaken for Onyxcoin (XCN), founded by Adam Ludwin in 2014. Fox Business Conclusion The crypto space has faced lots of discrimination since its advent and hitherto from most government leaders and business executives. However, crypto weathered their discriminations alongside several dwindling market conditions, breaking more resistance and creating newer supports. With the current Trump administration supercharging crypto adoption and the creation of strategic Bitcoin reserves, more countries are likely to include crypto in their reserves, which will be positive for Bitcoin and the entire crypto market. Similarly, more companies will rely on government trust and adoption to add crypto assets to their balance sheets for financial gains.
