The leading cryptocurrency bitcoin traded as high as $41,973 at 10:10 a.m. ET, according to data from Coin Metrics. It’s since fallen back below the $41,000 mark and was the last trading up about 4% from a day earlier, at $40,590. At the time of writing, the price of bitcoin is trading at just below $40,000. Bitcoin has extended its 2020 rally — which saw it skyrocket over 300% — into the new year. It is currently up roughly 40% so far in 2021.
Bitcoin draws the attention of big institutions.
The cryptocurrency’s blistering bull run has attracted attention from institutional investors, who view it as a potential safe-haven asset akin to gold. Strategists at JPMorgan recently said that bitcoin could hit $146,000 in the long term, as it competes with gold as an “alternative” currency. The idea of bitcoin as a hedge against inflation has continued to gain traction among investors amid unprecedented stimulus from governments around the world to tackle the coronavirus crisis. Analysts have argued such action could lead to a spike in inflation.
JPMorgan analysts predict bitcoin could reach $146,000 this year.
As reported earlier, strategists at the leading U.S. bank JPMorgan have been crunching the numbers and comparing Bitcoin to the traditional store of value assets such as gold. Led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, the analysts suggested that Bitcoin’s current market capitalization of around $580 billion would have to rise by 4.6 times to create a theoretical price of $146,000. The entire crypto market value has reached over $1 trillion for the first time. The U.S. bank also made a similar prediction in November last year when analysts at the firm suggested that Bitcoin could rise as much as ten times as it competes with gold for institutional investors.
