Strategists at JPMorgan Chase caused quite the stir in January when they informed clients that the approval of a Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund, or ETF, would be a short-term headwind for the digital asset. A United Kingdom-based cryptocurrency hedge fund manager is attempting to pour cold water on those claims, asserting that JPMorgan’s analysis isn’t based on quantitative analysis or in-depth research. The crux of JPMorgan’s argument is that a new institutional-grade ETF would introduce competition for Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, or GBTC, which has amassed over $22 billion in assets under management. The bank’s strategists say that the new ETF …

Despite Bitcoin price cooling off in recent days, with the premier cryptocurrency currently hovering around the $32,000 mark, it is still showcasing strong technicals as well as a thirty-day price gain of nearly 40%. Not only that, but even since its recent dip — which has seen the digital asset fall from its recently established all-time high of around $42,000 to its present value — the top crypto is still in the green over the last 12 months, exhibiting a value spike of nearly 300%. In this regard, since the fourth quarter of 2019, a number of traditional finance players …

Editor's note It may be too late for resolutions and too early for Lent, but lacking any discrete occasion, I would still like to give up United States political news for a while, or at least for the duration of one Law Decoded. Fortunately, in the spirit of going international and leaving the bonkers election cycle of the U.S., blockchain technology and stablecoins are playing a major role in the latest developments in cross-border payments and settlements. It’s long been one of the most talked-about applications of blockchain technology. Diplomatic scheming shows up in payments by regular folks in the …

The Bitcoin (BTC) bull market has put the flagship cryptocurrency on par with cyclical assets as opposed to a hedge against market stress, according to analysts at JPMorgan Chase. JPMorgan strategists John Normand and Federico Manicardi say anyone betting on Bitcoin as a portfolio diversifier is putting themselves at risk. In a Thursday report obtained by Bloomberg, the strategists called Bitcoin the “least reliable hedge during periods of acute market stress.” They added: “The mainstreaming of crypto ownership is raising correlations with cyclical assets, potentially converting them from insurance to leverage.” Cyclical assets typically refer to stocks that follow the …

Grayscale Investments, the world’s largest digital-asset manager, could hold the key to Bitcoin’s (BTC) short-term price outlook, according to JPMorgan Chase. As Bloomberg reports, strategists led by Nikolas Panigirtzoglou believe Bitcoin could lose its luster over the short-term unless it can “break out” above $40,000. The flagship cryptocurrency breached that key level on two occasions this month, once in the lead-up to new all-time highs near $42,000 and the other just last week. The strategists determined that the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, which currently has $23 billion in assets under management, will play a crucial role in whether BTC returns to …

A little-known altcoin known as Metacoin (MTC) surged to 486% gains in just 24 hours on Jan. 18, after Bittrex Global announced it would be listing the coin against Bitcoin (BTC). Metacoin is built on the Hyperledger network, an umbrella project of open-source technologies focused around building permissioned blockchain ecosystems for large cross-industry enterprises. Metacoin became the first cryptocurrency of Hyperledger’s to achieve mainnet status when it went live in 2018. Hyperledger was founded by the Linux Foundation, and is overseen by a host of “premium members”, comprising leading technology and finance companies, such as IBM, J.P. Morgan, Fujitsu, Hitachi, …

During JP Morgan Chase’s Q4 2020 earnings call, CEO Jamie Dimon and CFO Jennifer Piepszak weighed in on the OCC’s recent approval of banks using stablecoins for payments, as well as whether or not the approval will have any impact on the development of JPM Coin. During the question-and-answers portion of the call, Portales Partners analyst Charles Peabody asked about the approval from the OCC for banks to use public blockchain networks for payments. “That guidance enables an offering of stable going on a public blockchain. So that doesn't impact JPM coin. JPM coin, you should think about as the …

The dollar value of Bitcoin (BTC) jumped 20% overnight leading into Tuesday as the world’s most-well-known cryptocurrency recovered swiftly from a 27% decline suffered just days before. The broader cryptocurrency market followed suit on Tuesday, as over $150 billion flooded back into the global market capitalization on the same day. The spot price of Bitcoin jumped from $30,468 to $36,633 in a little over 15 hours leading into Tuesday morning, representing overnight gains of 20.2%. This returned a majority of the losses incurred by the coin over the course of the previous weekend when BTC's price plunged from $41,880 down …

Drawing parallels between Bitcoin (BTC) and gold's role as a hedge for investors has been popular for years. Until now, the stark discrepancy in the total market capitalizations of the two assets has limited these analogies to a significant extent. Gold, even after a major Bitcoin price rise in Dec. 2020, continues to command roughly 4.6 times Bitcoin's current $585 billion market capitalization. Yet strategists at the American multinational megabank JPMorgan Chase are forecasting a possible scenario in which Bitcoin can seriously take on its predecessor. On Jan. 5, a Bloomberg report cited a note from the bank's strategists, led …

Enterprise blockchain started gaining traction in 2017 shortly after Bitcoin had reached its all-time high of nearly $20,000. Since then, enterprise blockchain has mainly been defined by private blockchain networks used by businesses for things such as supply chain management. The enterprise blockchain space has changed quite a bit since 2017. For instance, 2020 has brought in a number of enterprise blockchain use cases that leverage public networks rather than private ones. The COVID-19 pandemic has also driven many companies, both large and small, to use blockchain for guaranteeing proof-of-health or to revive tourism. Finally, some blockchain companies this year …

Institutional investors may be all that’s pushing up the price of Bitcoin (BTC), a new report from JPMorgan Chase claims. In comments on Dec. 18 quoted by Bloomberg, strategists led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou added to recent forecasts about the role of institutions in Bitcoin’s future. JPMorgan: Bitcoin "overbought" According to JPMorgan, the largescale inflows seen this month must continue to avoid a price correction. As Cointelegraph reported, theories tied to recent price rises include institutional investors buying via over-the-counter trades that suck up the available supply. This has been called a liquidity crisis, which will only accentuate with time, while …

Sandie O’Connor, the former chief regulatory affairs officer at banking giant JPMorgan Chase, is joining Ripple’s board of directors. According to a Ripple blog post published yesterday, O’Connor will “provide counsel on key government relations and regulatory initiatives” as part of her role on the board. O’Connor worked at JPMorgan for 31 years, serving as chief regulatory affairs officer and treasurer for the bank before retiring in 2019. She has been a systemic resolution advisory committee member for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or FDIC, since July. CEO Brad Garlinghouse said O’Connor’s “extensive network and in-depth understanding of markets, capital …