Until recently, the financial world has been dominated by the major trading and banking firms that have thrived for decades. Apart from the periodic trading frenzy provoked by a new cryptocurrency or investment model, conventional wisdom holds that the big guys don’t have anything to fear from flash-in-the-pan startups.
According to JPMorgan’s Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon, however, the days of underestimating the little guy are over.
Dimon explained in his annual letter to shareholders that ignoring the offerings of fintech startups is a very dangerous move, even for established players such as his own company. Per Dimon, recent breakthroughs in blockchain and decentralized finance technology have been driven by new players in the world of finance, and have been “greatly intensifying and clearly contributing to the diminishing role of banks.”
At the same time, Dimon maintained an optimistic note about JPMorgan’s capacity to keep up with the competition. The company has launched recent innovations such as a new Metaverse-based virtual banking platform, and established competitors like Visa have been fostering NFT creation programs to maintain their edge in the fintech world.
