Ryze Recap 6/15: JP Morgan is Wall Street's Newest Bitcoin Bull
Plus, Trump Appoints a Bitcoiner to Federal Office
Happy Monday! Ryze Recaps synthesize the top stories that Bitcoiners need to know in 2 minutes or less. But first— a little Monday motivation:
“If not us, who? If not now, when?” – John F. Kennedy
JP Morgan’s New Report is a Complete 180 On Bitcoin
JP Morgan has been vocally critical of Bitcoin since the 2017 bull run. More recently, however, JPM has done a full 180 and come out in favor of Bitcoin, in a new report released last week. The bulk of the report focuses on Bitcoin’s drop in March to below $4,000 and subsequent recovery. JPM contends that this was a stress test, which Bitcoin passed with flying colors.
Quick highlights:
Bitcoin bounced back from March lows faster than all other asset classes.
Price has consistently remained higher than the cost to mine a full Bitcoin, indicating that mining cost could be a price floor.
Bitcoin is increasingly correlated with other asset classes like equities but has outperformed most traditional asset classes.
Why it matters:
JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon called Bitcoin a “fraud” and was an outspoken critic, but this no longer seems to be JPM’s viewpoint. Seeing one of Wall Street’s biggest banks completely change positions on Bitcoin is undoubtedly positive news. This year, JP Morgan has taken on Bitcoin exchanges Coinbase and Gemini as clients.
Fidelity (6/10) and Bloomberg (6/5) have recently published bullish reports on Bitcoin and crypto-assets. JP Morgan has followed suit, on the heels of increasing interest in Bitcoin from institutional investors.
Trump Appoints a Bitcoin Bull to Federal Office
Earlier this year, Trump appointed Brian Brooks to be the comptroller of the currency. Brooks now has broad oversight of the federal banking system and its 1000+ member banks. Previously, Brooks was Chief Legal Officer at Coinbase.
Why it matters:
Last week, Brooks came out as a proponent of Bitcoin and blockchain technology. He’s expressed a positive long-term outlook for Bitcoin, and has stated that blockchain can replace existing archaic financial transaction technology.
Trump took to Twitter and expressed an anti-Bitcoin stance last summer. Appointing a Bitcoin bull to one of the highest federal offices regarding banking/finance sends a different signal.
That’s all for today! We’ll be back tomorrow with another Ryze Recap.
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