JPMorgan says institutions are buying Bitcoin over gold

Institutional investors are ditching gold in favour of Bitcoin, according to banking giant JPMorgan.

Bitcoin (BTC) has staged an impressive rally since falling to $40,000 on September 21. Its value has skyrocketed to $55,000 in the last couple of weeks, gaining 35% in value.

This lift, says investment bank JPMorgan, can be attributed to a surge of institutional investors backing BTC over gold amid fears of inflation.

JPMorgan sees the investment into BTC as “a better inflation hedge than gold”.

It’s a far cry from comments earlier this year when JPMorgan analysts warned customers that investors were leaving BTC behind for gold because of BTCs volatility.

Analysts identified three main factors behind the rise in BTC price and the reason behind the investment switch.

Firstly, they point to recent reassurances from US regulators that they had no intention to follow China’s ban on cryptocurrencies and crypto mining.

Secondly, the rise of the Lightning Network and 2nd layer payment solutions encouraged by El Salvador’s recent adoption of BTC.

And, third, the increased fear of inflation has turned investors towards BTC as a hedge against it.

Gold has failed as a reliable inflation hedge this year and investors are reacting. More than $10bn has moved out of gold ETFs and $20bn has been invested into BTC funds. This increased Bitcoin’s share to 45% of the crypto market and the market capitalisation to over $1tn – the first time since April.