Jamie Dimon, the unanointed king of Wall Street and chief executive of New York banking colossus JP Morgan did not mince his words. He called bitcoin “a fraud”, a speculative bubble comparable to the Dutch tulip mania of the 17th century and declared he would fire any trader at his bank trading in the cryptocurrency “in a second” for “stupidity”. This has only reinforced the bloodbath in bitcoin, which has plunged 30% from its recent peak of $5014 on 2 September saddling credulous “investors” with $20 billion losses. The Economics 101 definition of money includes that it be a medium of exchange, a store of value – and a currency whose US dollar value plunges 25% in six consecutive sessions is obviously a poor store of value or medium of exchange. The world’s central bankers and securities regulators have also begun to crack down on bitcoin. The Chinese government banned its use as a unit of account in initial public offerings on the domestic stock exchange. Even the DFSA, the regulator of Dubai’s international financial centre, has issued a warning to the public against bitcoin fraud.