- A new JPMorgan report has found that institutional Bitcoin buying has rapidly outpaced gold ETF purchases this year
- The bank says that this represents a changing attitude on Bitcoin by accredited investors
- JPMorgan has been more bullish on Bitcoin than ever in recent months
JPMorgan has reported that institutional buying of Bitcoin is outpacing investment in gold ETFs, with the bank adding that the shift represents a changing understanding of Bitcoin among accredited investors. This shift has accelerated at an unprecedented rate this year, with JPMorgan among those institutions who seem to have changed their mind on Bitcoin.
Gold ETFs Stagnate
JPMorgan’s insight was posted on Twitter by Grayscale Managing Director Michael Sonnenshein, with the banks comparing Grayscale share ownership (which they took for institutional Bitcoin ownership) with gold ETFs:
“What makes the October flow trajectory for the @Grayscale #Bitcoin Trust even more impressive is its contrast with the equivalent flow trajectory for #gold ETFs, which overall saw modest outflows since mid-October…” via @jpmorgan pic.twitter.com/NQGZTIpZJu
— Michael Sonnenshein (@Sonnenshein) November 7, 2020
The data clearly shows a rapid increase in institutional Bitcoin buying from January this year in comparison to gold ETFs which grew slightly during the same period but have plateaued while Bitcoin has gone stratospheric.
In a follow up tweet, Sonnenshein then quoted a section from the report that gave a potential explanation of the transition:
…This contrast lends support to the idea that some investors that previously invested in gold ETFs such as family offices, may be looking at Bitcoin as an alternative to gold.
2020 Belongs to Bitcoin
Such a development was seemingly unthinkable even a few short months ago, especially from a bank whose CEO has taken great delight in calling Bitcoin a scam, but it reflects a changing mood around Bitcoin that has been years in the making and has finally broken through in 2020.
JPMorgan has undergone something of a sea change in its opinion of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies this year, stating in June that the sector had passed its first “stress test” following the global market collapse in March, while only last month a note from the bank’s analysts stated that Bitcoin had “considerable” long term upside potential and that it could compete with gold as an “alternative” currency.
The data from this latest JPMorgan report seems to back up their theory and further denigrates the efforts of the gold camp to dismiss Bitcoin as a worthless asset doomed to failure.
