The head of JPMorgan assures that “we will have to get involved” in the cryptocurrency
The price of bitcoin has reached a new all-time high following additional support from Wall Street investment banks .
The cryptocurrency topped $ 50,000 for the first time on Tuesday, marking the latest peak in a rally that has seen its value rise 10 times since last March.
Both JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley appear to be considering a move to cryptocurrency, with a $ 150 billion Morgan Stanley investment arm currently looking at Bitcoin , according to Bloomberg.
JPMorgan co-chair Daniel Pinto also said the New York-based multinational could soon join other finance heavyweights in adding it to their betting list.
“If over time an asset class develops that will be used by different asset managers and investors, we will have to get involved,” he told CNBC .
“The demand is not there yet, but I am sure it will be at some point.”
The latest Bitcoin gains mean that it is only 8% away from having a market capitalization of $ 1 trillion.
The rising price has been driven by institutional investors, who are increasingly looking to add cryptocurrencies to their portfolios, as well as major payment companies like Mastercard and PayPal.
Interest came from other industries as well, with Tesla announcing a $ 1.5 billion investment in bitcoin last week.
“Bitcoin was up more than 25 percent over the week after a series of major announcements from companies, including Tesla,” Simon Peters, a cryptocurrency analyst at online investment platform eToro , told The Independent .
“Tesla’s move sparked more announcements from other industries last week, and many of the leading names in banking and finance announced similar plans to integrate crypto assets.”
Among them was Bank of New York Mellon (BNY Mellon), the oldest bank in the United States , which announced plans to transfer and issue bitcoins this year.
BNY Mellon executive Roman Regelman said at the time that “digital assets are becoming part of the mainstream” and that the bank would eventually treat Bitcoin like any other asset.