Crypto Scoop: JPMorgan says Gold will suffer in favour of Bitcoin

In this week’s review of what’s happening in the crypto world, we look at cryptocurrency integrations, vouches of faith from historic Fiat stakeholders and current performance of Bitcoin and altcoins.

Let’s get into it!

• JP Morgan predict mass movement to BTC
• Crypto artist Pak becomes first to earn $1 million
• Why BTC price dropped to $18k

JPMorgan Chase & Co. predict mass movement from gold assets to BTC

JPMorgan Chase, the United States’ biggest bank, recently commented on the influx of institutional investors into Bitcoin from more traditional assets such as gold. Quantitative strategists at the bank predict that this could be the overall trend in terms of large scale investments going forward.

Since October, investments in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust grew by $2 billion while gold-backed Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) lost $7 billion. If the current trend persists, investors will see a fall in the price of gold over the next few years in favour of Bitcoin.

Cryptocurrency Artist Becomes the First to Earn $1 Million

In the CryptoArt space, artist Pak became the first to cross the $1 million dollars mark based on the current price of Ethereum for the blockchain-based artworks he has sold. Pak sold a total of 269 artworks to make a total of $1,096,956.18 across several platforms including SuperRare, Nifty Gateway, Async Art and MakersPlace.

This industry record was shared on Twitter by Nick Tomaino, the founder of cryptocurrency-focused investment firm 1confirmation. Nick also predicted that cryptoart.io, a platform that allows CryptoArt artists to showcase their work and sell it will see more activity in 2021.

Of late, blockchain-based artworks, sold in the form of Non-Refundable Tokens (NFTs) have been gaining popularity. This shows the utility of the blockchain and the Ethereum network in other spheres beyond its apparent financial application.

BTC price dropped to $18,000. Why?

At approximately 06:00 GMT on Dec. 8, the price of the well-coveted Bitcoin fell to around $18,031 from $18,770. The cause for such a drop in price is understood to be the outcome of lesser availability of large stores of bitcoin, that would usually be contributed by large holders (Whales), who had instead opted to hold the stores in exchanges, so as to have readily available coins. 

The price of bitcoin, as with any other commodity is down to the simple model of “supply and demand”. A large percentile of recent buyers opted to withdraw their winnings from the market, probably due to the 80% increase in price over just two months.

Many believe this drop to signify a “rest stop” before rocketing to $30k within the next 2 years.

Read also: Crypto Scoop: Bitcoin Price Reaches New ATH

What about altcoins?

Bitcoin is not alone in its recent price drops. 

XRP, LTC, and ETH have all seen noteworthy drops, with the highest being a drop of 9%. All 17 free-floating currencies have dropped at least 8% in the past 24 hours. 

As for why? As bitcoin is essentially the grandfather of cryptocurrencies, it would be by logic that others would follow suit, even if in the slightest. 

But with the inflow of institutional investors into Bitcoin and the usefulness of blockchain-based currencies and other works keep gaining popularity, the future of crypto is definitely going to be exciting.

Read also: Stablecoin Adoption Rises as Bitcoin Price Fluctuates