The journey from believing that virtual currencies are a scam to believing that Bitcoin is a legitimate asset class is long and involves many twists and turns.
Yet, against all odds, a surprising number of prominent skeptics have made it through this journey unscathed, and perhaps more remarkable, without ever admitting they were wrong.
The very naysayers who once warned of a “crypto apocalypse” are now touting the benefits of blockchain rails and launching their own tokenization products.
From Bitcoin exchange-traded funds to tokenized gold, here are the five biggest crypto backflips.
Cryptocurrency converter born again
Larry Fink: Gives ETF King a ‘Money Laundering Indicator’
Larry Fink may be the epitome of a born-again crypto convert. In 2017, BlackRock’s chief executive labeled Bitcoin a “money laundering indicator,” capturing the view of mainstream financial institutions at the time, who believed the market was dominated by wild speculation and questionable flows.
As a side note, people in glass houses should not throw stones. Cryptocurrency money laundering is estimated at $82 billion in 2025, while the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimates that approximately $800 billion to $2 trillion is laundered through traditional methods every year.
Related: BlackRock Bitcoin ETF sees record outflows as BTC dips below $75,000
It’s not entirely clear why Fink decided to rebalance, but by 2020 he had begun to recognize its potential and in 2023 began actively championing BlackRock’s crypto push, with BlackRock now one of the most important institutional access points to Bitcoin via spot ETFs, helping to bring the asset into the center of the regulated investment universe.
In his annual letter to shareholders, Fink waxes lyrical about tokenization and writes impassioned editorials about how it will transform the financial system.
I’m reluctant but I’ll make money anyway
Jamie Dimon: Still hates Bitcoin, loves trains
If Fink is a born-again believer, Jamie Dimon is squarely in the camp of the reluctant and still skeptical.
The head of JPMorgan called Bitcoin a “scam” and crypto investors “stupid” and warned that Bitcoin will crash again and again, not to mention using a Congressional hearing as a platform to reiterate his distaste for Bitcoin.
But JPMorgan has quietly become one of Wall Street’s largest blockchain infrastructure providers, so watch what he does, not what he says.
The world’s largest bank built its Onyx division, rolled out JPM Coin, experimented with linking banking infrastructure to cryptocurrency wallets, and developed a tokenized collateral platform to move cash and securities more efficiently.
Sure, Mr. Dimon is still publicly trolling Bitcoin, but JPMorgan is now selling many of the rails that keep the institutional digital asset market alive.
Peter Schiff: Gold forever, but now on chain
Peter Schiff hasn’t softened his rhetoric even as prices and adoption rates rise. Instead, each rally in Bitcoin only amplifies his warnings about bubbles, “big fools” and inevitable collapses. This is a highly effective promotional method for Schiff’s beloved gold industry.
Peter Schiff’s infamous “Big Fool” comment. Source: Peter Schiff
But even the eternal gold bug stepped into the digital asset world in December 2025 with the launch of T-Gold.com, a tokenized gold platform that uses blockchain to represent stored bullion as transferable tokens.
The product allows users to purchase physical gold and silver held in isolated vaults and receive digital tokens representing specific amounts of the metals, with ownership recorded on the blockchain.
Related: Tucker Carlson presses Peter Schiff on Bitcoin as the new global currency
For Schiff, this is reinforcement rather than apostasy, a way to tell crypto-native investors, “You can keep the rails, but instead trade that asset for something with thousands of years of financial history.”
Nouriel Roubini: Technodollar, not Bitcoin
Nouriel Roubini, once known in the cryptocurrency world as “Doctor Doom,” may seem like an unlikely candidate for any kind of cryptocurrency conversion.
He has spent years describing most digital assets as “useless,” warning of a “crypto apocalypse,” and listing the sector’s governance failures, conflicts of interest, and harm to investors.
But this week, he released a white paper he co-authored with Atlas Capital, announcing USAFi. USAFi is a tokenized instrument sold as a regulated, permissionless security designed to embody what he calls a “techno dollar.”
USAFi White Paper. Source: Atlas AI Labs
Roubini insisted that this is “not a reversal” and told Cointelegraph that he “remains skeptical of unbacked crypto assets whose value depends primarily on speculation rather than fundamentals.”
He argued that technodollars are about “modernizing the financial system through digital products backed by regulated assets that institutions and individuals alike can trust.”
He added that he still believes that most crypto assets “suffer from excessive speculation, weak governance, conflicts of interest, and insufficient investor protection.”
I don’t understand it, but I’m willing to cash it out
Donald Trump: Atmosphere surrounding the white paper
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Donald Trump is in a category of his own. The same politician who once said Bitcoin “looks like a scam” and warned it could undermine the dollar’s hegemony later rebranded himself as the “crypto president.”
President Trump has touted non-fungible token drops, launched a memecoin for himself and a memecoin for his wife, and pitched himself as a champion of domestic crypto innovation to overreaching regulators (all while reportedly pocketing more than $2.3 billion in various crypto efforts since 2024).
Trump has promised to end Joe Biden’s crypto wars. Source: Vivek Ramaswamy
He may not be able to explain the difference between proof of work and proof of stake, but he understands his constituency.
RELATED: Trump’s Crypto Company’s USD 1 Stablecoin Backs UFC Event Bonuses
The cryptocurrency industry has matured into an important voting bloc, and its funders are becoming increasingly strategic. What matters is the ability to read a room full of HODLers and say the right words about freedom, innovation, and firing Gary Gensler.
What has changed: beliefs, incentives, or both?
Born-again converts like Fink have reframed cryptocurrencies and tokenization as an extension of their existing mission, driven by clear demand and the opportunity to graft new fee streams onto massive asset management franchises.
Meanwhile, reluctant skeptics are trying to draw a clear line between “bad crypto” and “good digital finance,” and opportunists have learned that even shallow acceptance of digital assets can bring them both support and wealth.
Of course, it remains to be seen whether these moves represent true intellectual evolution or a simple instinct to chase money. But perhaps the bigger question is which crypto skeptic will see the light next? Are we too hopeful that Warren Buffett will reconsider his famous opinion that Bitcoin is “rat poison squared”?
magazine: Veteran trader Peter Brandt says Bitcoin will not reach $1 million by 2030.
