The price of Bitcoin is at a record high.
After breaking through $5,000 for the first time on Thursday, Bitcoin was up another 5% on Friday afternoon to trade near $5,700. Earlier in the day Bitcoin topped $5,800 to hit a fresh record.
And with the controversial cryptocurrency in the headlines, Wall Street just can’t stop talking about Bitcoin.
After saying on Thursday that he was done talking about Bitcoin, JP Morgan (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon on Friday broke his brief silence, saying at the annual Institute of International Finance membership meeting in Washington, D.C. that he could care less about Bitcoin. Dimon had sworn off discussing the cryptocurrency after making waves last month by saying Bitcoin was in a bubble that would eclipse the size of the tulip bubble seen back in the 1600s.
And yet that Dimon can really lay off ripping Bitcoin seems, at this point, to be in doubt.
According to Bloomberg, Dimon said the cryptocurrency is a “great product” if you’re a criminal, resurfacing the narrative around Bitcoin that dogged the digital currency in its early years given its close association with Silk Road.
Dimon also said that one day governments will crush Bitcoin and that people who buy Bitcoin are stupid. Bloomberg also said Dimon asked rhetorically, “Who cares about Bitcoin?”
Except that a lot of people do. Including many people on Wall Street.
‘Still thinking’
On Thursday, after Dimon said he was done discussing Bitcoin further, JP Morgan’s CFO Marianne Lake said the bank is, “very open minded to the potential use cases in the future for digital currencies that are properly controlled and regulated.”
And the commentary out of JP Morgan came on the heels of Goldman Sachs (GS) reportedly looking at setting up a trading venue for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein said on Twitter earlier this month that he was “still thinking” about Bitcoin but wasn’t endorsing or rejecting the concept.
Blankfein added that, “folks also were skeptical when paper money displaced gold.” So, there’s that.
Additionally, Wall Street strategist Tom Lee — mostly known for his calls on the stock market — has spent considerable time in the last few months writing research reports on cryptocurrency and said back in August that he had a $6,000 price target for Bitcoin by mid-2018.
Lee also sees Bitcoin rising to $25,000 by 2022 and his bullish view on the currency is “premised on expanded acceptance of digital currencies (as payment platforms), and ultimately broader adoption as a “store of value” (digital currencies have a lot of characteristics that make gold attractive).”