Dimon Regrets Calling Bitcoin A Fraud, Tom Lee Expects $20,000 Level By Mid-2018
(Kitco News) - Despite bears being in control of bitcoin’s trading action lately, as the price level remains stuck at around $14,000, negative opinions about the popular cryptocurrency are being tamed.
The latest example is Jamie Dimon, CEO of J.P. Morgan Chase, who told Fox Business on Tuesday that he “regrets” calling bitcoin a “fraud” back in September.
Dimon said he sees the potential in blockchain — the technology behind bitcoin.
“The blockchain is real,” Dimon said. “You can have cryptodollars in yen and stuff like that. ICOs ... you got to look at every one individually. The bitcoin was always to me what the governments are going to feel about bitcoin when it gets really big. And I just have a different opinion than other people.”
This stands in contrast to Dimon’s previous statement on the topic, in which he spoke to bitcoin investors: “If you're stupid enough to buy it, you'll pay the price for it one day.”
In the new year, bitcoin remains under pressure, starting 2018 out below $14,000 per token, then briefly rising to this year’s high of $17,252 and then falling back to $14,000 this week.
Bitcoin was last seen trading at $14,075, down 2.43% on the day, according to Kitco’s aggregated charts.
The recent pressure has provided bears with “new technical momentum,” said Kitco’s senior technical analyst Jim Wyckoff on Tuesday. “A move in prices below chart support at $14,000 would better energize the bears, to then suggest a challenge of the recent lows scored in late December.”
Yet, one bitcoin bull remains optimistic about the cryptocurrency in 2018, saying that its price level could “easily double” this year.
“We think that by mid-2018, we're going to be part of the way [to $50,000], and that's why we get $20,000,” Tom Lee, co-founder and head of research at Fundstrat Global Advisors, told CNBC on Tuesday. “If [bitcoin] can actually rise close to [that $20,000 level] in the first half of this year, I think in the second half of 2018, we'll see a move bigger than that.”
Lee also said that bitcoin could take some investors away from the gold market.
“On a long-term basis, [the easiest way to look at bitcoin is] as a replacement or a store of value. So as millennials discover and generate income, they're going to use it as a replacement for gold,” he said. “If [bitcoin] gets 5% of the gold market, that's roughly $50,000 [per token].”
By Anna GolubovaFor Kitco News
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agolubova@kitco.comwww.kitco.com Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.