Bitcoin emergence as ‘digital gold’ could lift price to $146,000, says JPM

Digital currency bitcoin has emerged as a rival to gold and could trade as high as $146,000 if it becomes established as a safe-haven asset, investment bank JPMorgan (JPM) said on Tuesday.

Interest in the world’s biggest cryptocurrency has soared this year, with investors viewing bitcoin as a hedge against inflation and an alternative to the depreciating dollar. The rush led to bitcoin prices more than tripling in the past six months to a record peak of $34,800 on Jan. 2.

“Bitcoin’s competition with gold has already started in our mind,” the Wall Street bank’s strategists said in a note, citing recent $7 billion outflows from gold and more than $3 billion of inflows into the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust.