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JPMorgan now recognizes the fantastic potential that a bitcoin-based ETF can offer. When communicating with its clients about the multiple benefits of such a financial product, the megabank refers to it as the “holy grail for owners and investors.” This proclamation occurs when the total cryptocurrency market cap surpasses JPMorgan’s.

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The Many Benefits of bitcoin ETFs

Business Insider reports that on February 9, 2018, JPMorgan informed its clients of the benefits that bitcoin ETFs would bring, underlining the following:

• Easier access: “Investors need wallets to trade the physical Bitcoins today, making it hard to access. ETFs are frequently traded and highly accessible via investors’ brokerage accounts.”
• Liquid market: “ETFs are actively traded and highly transparent.”
• High integrity: “ETFs are traded through brokerage accounts that carry with them insurance via SIPC. bitcoin exchanges have no such insurance and expose holders to potential fraud and theft.”

JPMorgan officials also stated that a bitcoin ETF “could have a transformational impact on the cryptocurrency.” To emphasize this point, JPMorgan likened it to the financial market impact of the first gold-based ETF.

Cryptocurrencies As Key to Portfolio Diversification

The JPMorgan report entitled “Decrypting Cryptocurrencies: Technology, Applications and Challenges,” dated February 2018, shows how the bank’s understanding of the cryptocurrency market has evolved.

For example, the report views cryptocurrencies as keys that can help customers diversify their portfolios.

Although migration to bitcoin futures exchanges is a recent phenomenon, it has increased the legitimacy and credibility of such products. In fact, JPMorgan believes, bitcoin-based futures exchange trading could help drive the SEC’s approval for bitcoin ETFs.

The launch of Cboe bitcoin futures in December 2017 elevated the digital currency into the circle of mainstream finance, and many believe, it set the stage for the launch of bitcoin ETFs. As a result, many financial institutions are now seeking the SEC’s approval to launch bitcoin ETFs.

As of this writing, the total market cap for cryptocurrency is over $418 billion, surpassing the market cap of JPMorgan Chase.

Cryptocurrency enthusiasts hope that once banks understand the incredible opportunities that bitcoin offers, they will stop banning the use of their credit cards for cryptocurrency purchases and will abandon other similarly unfair practices.

If banks can be persuaded to cease their hostilities toward cryptocurrencies, this would help in obtaining the SEC’s approval for bitcoin ETFs. If the SEC allows any bitcoin ETFs, many financial experts believe that interest from retail and institutional investors and their billions of dollars could propel bitcoin’s value to amazing highs.

What do you think about the potential impact of the SEC’s approval of bitcoin-related ETFs? Let us know in the comments below.

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Images courtesy JPMorgan, Bloomberg, Thesupermat/Wikimedia Commons

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Published at Wed, 14 Feb 2018 06:30:25 +0000

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