In what can best be described as an outburst that follows a long hold back, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon on Wednesday 4th November 2015, while addressing the Fortune Global Forum, declared that it was just a matter of time before governments around the globe cracked on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Jamie Dimon, “Virtual currency, where it’s called a bitcoin vs. a U.S. dollar, that’s going to be stopped. No government will ever support a virtual currency that goes around borders and doesn’t have the same controls. It’s not going to happen.”

In the same breath, however, Mr. Dimon said that the blockchain could be useful in moving dollars on the internet. This could be interpreted as a furtherance of the banking sector policy, which is slowly taking shape, to embrace the decentralized public ledger on which Bitcoin runs and not Bitcoin itself.

Jamie Dimon, “Blockchain is like any other technology. If it is cheaper, effective, works, and secure, then we are going to use it. The technology will be used, and it could be used to transport currency, but it will be dollars, not bitcoins.”

The Bitcoin community is not amused!

As expected, the reaction from the Bitcoin community to these utterances was fast and to a certain level contemptuousness towards Mr. Dimon.

For instance, Riiume, a Redditor said, “But Jamie Dimon did look angry in the video. If bitcoin is such garbage, then why would he become emotional to the point of shaking and flushed face?”

Nevertheless, from the utterances the question becomes whether there is a conspiracy afoot behind the scenes to stop Bitcoin in its track. This idea seems to get credence considering that Jamie Dimon oversees one of the biggest banks in the United States and, indeed, the globe, which puts him in a place to know if there is something of that kind underway.

However, to be fair to the CEO, he did make it clear that this was his personal opinion. In other words, he just believes that governments around the world are not comfortable with the idea of decentralized money.

Dude-Lebowski on Reddit, “The US Gov’t can’t make bitcoin illegal; they are currently selling it as a legal good. (US Marshal auction of Silk Road Bitcoins). They don’t sell the Cocaine at the US Marshal Auction, for example.”

A too important voice to ignore

Whatever the case, Dimon is a too important voice to ignore. If he is not privy to a grand plan to stop Bitcoin, he controls a lot of power and wealth he can throw to such a course. Furthermore, there are several countries, including Russia, Ecuador and Bolivia, which have already banned the cryptocurrency.

With that said, this could be a wake-up call to the Bitcoin community to realize that the battle for survival of cryptocurrencies will be won in political arenas. It is important to have policy makers in government who recognize that Bitcoin brings more good than bad to the table.

The way to that end begins with educating the general public about the opportunities that the technology presents. After all, what is government if not a group of individuals elected by the public?

From a citizenry that has a positive view of Bitcoin will come a government that is ready to let the technology flourish. On the other hand, if the citizenry does not care about Bitcoin, the government will have an easy job painting it as the nexus of evil.

At the end of the day, Bitcoins future will be decided upon the opinions of its users, the public.