Crypto Currents: JPMorgan sees bitcoin undervalued vs. gold

Major Wall Street players are signaling deepening conviction in digital assets, with JPMorgan arguing for significant upside in bitcoin and institutional capital flowing heavily into ether-based products. As big tech pushes further into blockchain infrastructure, the future of market regulation may hinge on the next Federal Reserve chair. Stay up on the crypto news that matters with “Crypto Currents,” daily from The Fly. Join us 2 PM daily for your essential briefing on the fast-moving world of cryptocurrency on FlyCast radio. Also, subscribe to our YouTube channel for the Crypto Fly By weekly recap.

JPMORGAN SAYS BITCOIN UNDERVALUED VS. GOLD: In a research report highlighted by CoinDesk, JPMorgan (JPM) argued that bitcoin is trading too cheap relative to gold as its volatility falls to historic lows. The bank noted that bitcoin’s six-month volatility has dropped from nearly 60% at the start of the year to a record low of about 30%. On a volatility-adjusted basis, analysts believe bitcoin’s price would need to rise 13% to about $126,000 to match gold’s private investment market cap. The report links the collapsing volatility to accelerating purchases by corporate treasuries, making the asset more attractive for institutional portfolios.

ARK INVEST BUYS ANOTHER $15.6M OF ETHER PROXY BITMINE: Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest continued its accumulation of ether treasury company Bitmine Immersion Technologies (BMNR), purchasing another $15.6M worth of shares on Wednesday. The shares were added to its Innovation, Next Generation Internet, and Fintech Innovation ETFs. The move brings ARK’s total holdings in Bitmine to over $300M, a position now nearly half the size of its roughly $676M investment in Coinbase (COIN).

ETHER ETFS ATTRACT 10X MORE INFLOWS THAN BITCOIN: According to data from CoinGlass, spot ether ETFs are seeing a surge in demand, attracting over $1.83B in the last five trading days—more than 10 times the inflows of their bitcoin counterparts. The momentum follows the passage of stablecoin legislation, as the network holds the largest market share for stablecoins and tokenized assets. The trend prompted VanEck CEO Jan van Eck to tell Fox Business that ether is “The Wall Street token,” arguing that banks must adopt the blockchain to handle stablecoin transfers or risk falling behind. Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart reported that investment advisers are the top holders of ether ETFs, with Goldman Sachs (GS) leading with $712M in exposure, according to SEC filings.

THREE CRYPTO-FRIENDLY CANDIDATES ON TRUMP’S FED CHAIR LIST: The Trump administration is considering at least 11 candidates to replace Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve chair, and at least three have taken positive stances toward crypto. The list of potential replacements includes BlackRock’s (BLK) Rick Rieder, who told The Wall Street Journal in early 2024 that bitcoin could likely “be a big part of the asset allocation framework”. Also on the list are Fed Governor Chris Waller, who stated that the banking sector had “nothing to be afraid of” regarding crypto, and Fed Vice Supervision Chair Michelle Bowman, who has advocated for central bank staff to invest in crypto to better understand it.

SOLANA TARGETS FASTER SPEEDS WITH ‘ALPENGLOW’ UPGRADE: In the competitive blockchain space, solana (SOL-USD) developers are pushing a major upgrade proposal called ‘Alpenglow,’ which aims to slash transaction confirmation times to approximately 150 milliseconds, making network confirmations feel effectively instant for users.

PRICE ACTION: As of time of writing, bitcoin (BTC-USD) was trading at $112,648.72, while ethereum (ETH-USD) was $4,527.40.