The last six weeks have been among the worst in bitcoin’s history. Despite only being in existence for just 12 years, the world’s most valuable digital currency has had its fair share of gloomy days and price swings. However, according to a new report from financial giant JPMorgan, bitcoin’s price, which has been plummeting in recent weeks, could fall even more before stabilizing.
More Gloomy Days Ahead
Since its inception over 12 years ago, the currency has been going through its roughest period. The asset eventually hit a peak of roughly $64,000 in mid-April, the highest point it had ever reached, albeit the world’s most valuable digital currency by market cap has since declined by about $30,000 a unit as of press time. This is far worse than anything seen by bitcoin in 2014 and 2018, two years that traders will remember for the asset’s poor performance.
JPMorgan strategist Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou wrote in a research note that bitcoin’s price might fall further before stabilizing after a correction, CNBC and Yahoo Finance reported.
“It now seems unlikely that we see this volatility ratio returning to the x2 levels of last summer. The best we can hope for over the medium term is for this volatility ratio to partially revert from around x6 currently to around x4 by year end,” Panigirtzoglou said, as quoted by CNBC.
Bitcoin’s price has been volatile since plummeting in May, when it plunged to as low as $30,000 from a high of almost $64,000 in April.
According to the note, bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, has a medium-term fair value of $24,000 to $36,000.
One of the reasons JPMorgan seems to think bitcoin could fall further is because institutions have taken a break from buying the asset. So long as the currency continues to travel south, largescale investors are looking to avoid it like the plague. The document says:
There is little doubt that the boom-and-bust dynamics of the past weeks represent a setback to the institutional adoption of crypto markets, particularly bitcoin and Ethereum. We note that the mere rise in volatility, especially relative to gold, is an impediment to further institutional adoption as it reduces the attractiveness of digital gold vs. traditional gold in institutional portfolios.
Per the report, JPMorgan states that volatility is likely to continue throughout 2021 and things could only marginally improve before the year is out. The document reads:
It now seems unlikely that we see this volatility ratio returning to the x2 levels of last summer. The best we can hope for over the medium term is for this volatility ratio to partially revert from around x6 currently to around x4 by year end.
Related article | JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon Says Bitcoin Isn’t His Cup of Tea
Bloomberg Is Bullish On Bitcoin
As usual, seasoned market professionals urged investors to take a longer-term view on Bitcoin.
Veteran trader Peter Brandt predicted a bullish continuation, saying that $21,000 would be the eventual floor for BTC/USD under current conditions.
“Why would someone bail out of non-leveraged longs when the market already had 80% of worst-case drop?” he argued earlier in the week.
Big picture perspective on owning $BTC in appropriate size with money you can afford to lose
Market topped $64,7kf
Market corrected to $30,0k
Worst I can envision is $21,0kWhy would someone bail out of non-leveraged longs when the market already had 80% of worst case drop?
— Peter Brandt (@PeterLBrandt) June 2, 2021
Another openly bullish view came from Bloomberg Intelligence, which described cryptocurrencies as “discounted and refreshed” in its latest monthly report.
“Bitcoin is more likely to resume appreciating toward $100,000 resistance rather than sustaining below $20,000,” it summarized.
Related article | Bitcoin Bull Flag Suggests Price Will Explode Beyond $70,000
Featured image from PixaBay, charts from TradingView.
