In this photo illustration, visual representations of the digital cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, are arranged on January 4, 2021 in Katwijk, The Netherlands.
Yuriko Nakao | Getty Images
Bitcoin surged on Wednesday to hit a new all-time high as the cryptocurrency continued to trade wildly.
According to data from Coin Metrics, bitcoin’s price rose above $ 35,000 early Wednesday morning. It later cut profits slightly and traded 1% higher at 34,275.
Bitcoin’s latest all-time high comes just days after it dropped more than 10% to $ 29,316. That followed a jump of more than 300% in 2020 to levels above USD 29,000.
On Monday, JPMorgan released a note with a bold long-term price target for bitcoin, claiming the cryptocurrency could soar as high as $ 146,000 as it competes with gold as an “alternative” currency. The precious metal also posted significant gains in 2020, with spot gold up about 25% this year.
Anthony Scaramucci, founder and co-managing partner of SkyBridge Capital, also told CNBC’s “Capital Connection” on Wednesday that his company is “quite optimistic” about bitcoin’s store of value and sees it “replacing” gold.
Scaramucci, a former White House communications director, added that democratic control over Congress would be “great” for cryptocurrencies due to the expectation of “huge” money being printed under a federal government controlled by the party.
However, JPMorgan strategists said bitcoin needs to become significantly less volatile before it can match gold in terms of market value. The price of the cryptocurrency is known to go through wild swings.
The call from the US investment banking giant was remarkable given CEO Jamie Dimon’s previous comments about bitcoin. Dimon once called the cryptocurrency a ‘fraud’.
Meanwhile, PwC’s global cryto leader Henri Arslanian told CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia” Monday that bitcoin’s recent rise to record levels was partly driven by the entry of larger, institutional investors into the market.
Bitcoin bulls have hailed the virtual currency as an inflation hedge similar to gold in the face of unprecedented government incentives to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.
– Ryan Browne, Saheli Roy Choudhury and CNBC’s Yen Nee Lee contributed to this report.