When cryptocurrency exploded in the mainstream market, there were a lot of skeptics and critics that came to discredit it. It was called a fraud, a scam, and a host of other things with the intent of running it out the scene. But cryptocurrency and blockchain, the technology behind it, stayed. And not only stayed, it proliferated and dominated the industry.

Among the critics that came to oust it was JP Morgan’s CEO Jamie Dimon. But Dimon’s words and JP Morgan’s actions was the polar opposite. In the span of four months back in 2017, the CEO has called Bitcoin a sham, then JP Morgan bought a lump of it shortly after. Dimon lashed out at Bitcoin a week later, calling people “stupid” for investing in it, went on to add that the government is going to ban it, and by 2018, ultimately stated he regretted having to say those things mentioned.

Most crypto enthusiasts, if not all, are considering Dimon and JP Morgan as a villain. And who can blame them? Meanwhile, JP Morgan itself didn’t share the opinion of its CEO and has been observing and testing the waters around the newcomer. It even came to a point that an expert at the bank stated that Bitcoin has credibility because of the market regulation surrounding it. This isn’t to say that the bank is a staunch supporter of Bitcoin, perhaps it just recognized the cryptocurrency as a capable opponent.

Today, JP Morgan is planning to enter the market through a strategy that involves a “method for processing network payments using a distributed ledger.” However, it seems rather similar to an already existing service offered by Ripple.

Ripple operates by connecting banks around the globe, offering them the capabilities of moving payments across borders in real-time. Before Ripple, or blockchain in general, banks would need an intermediary party to process cross-border payments. This transaction usually takes days to complete. Ripple’s protocol allows banks to bypass these intermediaries decreasing expense and time between transactions.

JP Morgan’s proposed patent is remarkably similar. So if they try to proceed with their strategy, prior art is going to protect Ripple from such maneuver. Crypto enthusiasts are amused by this development and is calling the bank and its CEO a hypocrite.

It’s still unclear whether or not JP Morgan is going to proceed with their strategy. In the meantime, Bitcoin isn’t exactly doing well within its market based on the top 10 list that China recently released. On the list, Bitcoin was placed at number 13, while the number one spot was taken by Ethereum.