Is it possible to support blockchain and denounce cryptocurrency? This question has been asked by crypto enthusiasts on multiple companies, particularly JP Morgan.

The multinational investment bank’s CEO Jamie Dimon had been a stout critic of cryptocurrency in the past, calling it as a fraud innovation and branding people stupid for investing in it. Meanwhile, the bank itself has been supporting blockchain, the driving technology behind cryptocurrency.

Ultimately, Dimon and JP Morgan came to a conclusion that this young innovation is actually good for the company. They then developed a platform that will enable them to take advantage of its capabilities, improving their services while lowering risk. The problem was that the service they created is closely similar to an already existing one called Ripple.

People are saying that because of both Dimon and JP Morgan’s hesitation it gave other startups a head-start which left them where they are now. And it seems the same thing is happening with the Bank of Spain.

Luis Maria Linde, Banco de Espana’s head, expressed his concern surrounding cryptocurrency but is supporting blockchain technology. He added that the fledgling innovation possesses capabilities that can decrease transaction costs and improve service efficiency.

"Cryptocurrencies have low acceptance as a means of payment, suffer extreme volatility, present multiple operational vulnerabilities and have been related to fraudulent or illicit activities in many cases,” Linde said. He attended a recently concluded event organized by auditing firm Deloitte where he gave a speech about cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, saying that the former doesn’t provide any “significant improvements” to a system.

The country doesn’t recognize cryptocurrency as a legal form of payment. The suspicion stems from the fact that Bitcoin and many of its kind has been used by criminal organizations in the past like the infamous black market operating in the deep web called Silk Road. But even today, cryptocurrency is still being used to conduct illicit activities.

Criminals are quite fond of it as it’s difficult, although not impossible, to track cryptocurrency directly to a certain individual. As for Banco de Espana, it seems they’re standing their ground about their opinion regarding digital currencies. Whether this refusal will cost them to lag behind others who have already adopted the innovation remain to be seen.