[Bitcoin Now] JP Morgan: "Downtrend Will Continue for a While"

JP Morgan, Consistently Skeptical of Bitcoin
Bloomberg: "Market Regulations Continue, but Bitcoin Volatility Actually Decreases"

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] The major U.S. investment bank JP Morgan has claimed that the decline of the leading cryptocurrency Bitcoin will continue for the time being. National government-led regulations on the cryptocurrency market are also being mentioned one after another.

According to U.S. economic media CNBC on the 1st (local time), Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, a JP Morgan strategist, said, "Since the 19th of last month, institutional investor demand has sharply decreased," and analyzed, "Bitcoin's downward trend will continue for the time being." He evaluated the mid-term appropriate value of Bitcoin to be between $24,000 (approximately 26.62 million KRW) and $36,000.

JP Morgan has consistently viewed the Bitcoin market pessimistically. Earlier, on the 27th of last month, David Lebovitz, a JP Morgan strategist, pointed out, "The volatility of cryptocurrencies is extreme," and "Their value could fall to zero." JP Morgan also analyzed that investors are leaving Bitcoin and returning to gold. Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan, is also skeptical about Bitcoin. On the 27th of last month, CEO Dimon said at the U.S. House Financial Services Committee, "Bitcoin cannot be compared to fiat currency or gold," and "I still do not see Bitcoin as an investment target."

The possibility of comprehensive national regulation is also increasing. On the 1st, Stefan Ingves, Governor of Sweden's central bank Riksbank, said in an interview with U.S. economic media Bloomberg, "When something grows, issues such as consumer interests or money laundering arise," and "Bitcoin has become too large to escape regulation." Sweden is currently introducing various regulatory measures, including seeking ways to strengthen standards for cryptocurrency exchange platforms.

On the other hand, there are positive prospects that Bitcoin can recover because its volatility has decreased. On the 1st, Bloomberg analyzed that although news of market regulation is coming out one after another, Bitcoin's volatility is actually decreasing. In fact, Bitcoin's volatility over the past 10 days approached 162% on the 24th of last month but has fallen back to 106%. Tom Lee, CEO of U.S. investment research firm Fundstrat Advisors, argued, "Unless there is a sharp drop due to new negative factors, it can be seen as consolidating the current bottom."

Meanwhile, Bitcoin is showing little change around the 43 million KRW level. According to the domestic cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, as of 7:33 a.m. on the 2nd, Bitcoin recorded 43.01 million KRW, down 1.70% compared to the previous day. It fell to the 40 million KRW level on the 30th of last month but rebounded to the 43 million KRW level on the same day and has shown no fluctuation since.