JP Morgan Bets on Bitcoin to Eclipse Gold as Crypto Derivatives Go Mainstream
Wall Street’s love affair with crypto deepens—JP Morgan analysts now predict Bitcoin will outmuscle gold as the derivatives market matures. Forget ’digital gold’—this is a full-scale asset class coup.
Why it matters: When traditional finance giants start flipping the script, even the staunchest gold bugs feel their Swiss vaults tremble. The $100B+ crypto derivatives market isn’t just growing—it’s rewriting the rules of store-of-value warfare.
The kicker? This comes just as gold ETFs bleed $2.3B in outflows last quarter. Nothing like watching hedge funds dump a 5,000-year-old strategy to chase 15% APYs on Bitcoin futures—truly, the circle of life.
Derivatives and acquisitions
JP Morgan also pointed to a string of recent deals as signs of a maturing crypto derivatives market.
These include Coinbase’s acquisition of Deribit, Kraken’s purchase of U.S. futures platform NinjaTrader, and Gemini securing a license to offer derivatives in Europe.
The analysts wrote that these developments show "that the crypto derivatives universe is maturing and by coming under US or EU regulations it could induce confidence and greater participation by traditional institutional investors."
Still, Gold prices may climb further if there are new developments in the ongoing tariff negotiations with China once the current 90-day pause ends, Michael Petch, CEO of digital precious metals platform Argo, told Decrypt.
The two assets have climbed steadily over the past year as investors fretted about inflation and wider macro uncertainties, although bitcoin has outpaced gold throughout that period.
Last December, Bitcoin ETFs overtook their gold counterparts for net inflows, according to K33 Research. As of May, Bitcoin ETFs are outpacing gold ETFs in new inflows.
Gold is trading at $3,230, down from its April all-time high of $3,500. Bitcoin was trading hands for $103,800, just below its January 20 record of nearly $109,000.
Edited by Sebastian Sinclair
