Banking giant JPMorgan Chase & Co. is reportedly prioritizing digital assets over physical ones such as real estate from now on, with some of the banks experts claiming that cryptocurrencies, hedge funds, and other virtual assets such as NFTs have already replaced real estate in many peoples eyes in terms of being the preferred asset class going forward.
In related news, the bank claims that Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at a discounted price right now and that an eventual bull run could happen sooner rather than later. Additionally, JPMorgan has also just started using blockchain for collateral settlements in both lending and trading.
Move over real estate
In a statement issued to investors sent this past week, the bank also indicated that it is substituting real estate with digital assets like cryptocurrencies as its primary alternative asset class, alongside hedge funds, noting possible lagged repricing regarding real estate, private debt and private equity. Usually, alternative assets are considered to be investments which are not cash, bonds or stocks.
Moreover, the aforementioned experts also feel that the overall trajectory for venture capital funding will be critical in assisting the industry escape a situation akin to the crypto winter which followed the ICO bubble from 2018 to 2019. However, due to the current state of the market, it remains unclear as to which direction the crypto sector will go as far as the immediate future is concerned.
Is BTC currently undervalued?
Of course, the main cryptocurrency on everyones radar is the flagship crypto itself, Bitcoin. Although the current price is nowhere near its all time high following the recent Terra disaster, hope still remains for a potential comeback. At any rate, JPMorgan experts are optimistic about the future of the crypto sector provided that venture capital financing continues to flow. In fact, a VC company named Andreessen Horowitz recently disclosed a $4.5 billion investment in crypto firms in order to take advantage of the market slump in which we find ourselves.
Still, it is worth noting that JPMorgan, like many other traditional financial institutions, was not always supportive of crypto. Notwithstanding CEO Jamie Dimons scathing condemnation of BTC, JPMorgan has nonetheless begun providing crypto-related services to its clients. As a matter of fact, CEO Dimon slammed Bitcoin back in 2017, even going as far as calling it a blatant scam. Last October, he stepped up his attack, declaring the digital asset as worthless. However, he continued, because the banks customers were adults and due to the rapidly increasing interest in crypto, he chose to let the clients make their own decisions despite all of the associated risks.