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JPMorgan COO says the bank would get involved in bitcoin if demand arises.

A year ago, the strategists at JPMorgan had suggested the long-term price for Bitcoin was $146,000, but they have upped this
A year ago, the strategists at JPMorgan had suggested the long-term price for Bitcoin was $146,000, but they have upped this to a new prediction of $150,000.

Daniel Pinto, co-president and COO of multinational investment bank JP Morgan, confirmed to CNBC that if Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies become widespread, the bank will have no choice but to get involved with them. “If cryptocurrencies become a broadly-used asset class, the international bank will have no choice but to become involved. The demand from clients isn’t there yet, but I’m sure it will be at some point,” JPMorgan COO told CNBC’s Hugh Son.

JPMorgan is actively thinking about getting involved with bitcoin.

Daniel Pinot further explained that big banks have been very reluctant so far to get involved with the cryptocurrency because it is considered too speculative. However, JPMorgan’s own traders have been looking at Bitcoin charts and “truly salivating at the volatility and the surge of this” lately, which became evident at the recent semi-annual “town hall” meeting at the bank. When specifically asked about regulation, Pinto reportedly said that JP Morgan’s counterparties are big institutions that are already cleared in terms of know-your-customer procedures. Additionally, Pinto said that when JP Morgan finally decides to get into Bitcoin, it will use crypto exchanges the bank is “comfortable with,” specifically namedropping Coinbase.

ECB chief said central banks holding bitcoin is ‘out of the question.’

The president of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde, said that central banks worldwide would not be holding Bitcoin any time soon. In a conference call with The Economist on Feb. 10, the ECB head showed herself to be firmly risk-off when it came to decentralized cryptocurrencies. “It’s very unlikely — I would say it’s out of the question,” she responded when asked about central banks holding the cryptocurrency in the future. Institutions have shown an increased interest in bitcoin.

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