Unlike his fellow Wall Street bigwigs, James Gorman has not been scathing of Bitcoin, but neither has he been gushing. Now, as Bitcoin’s boom has continued, Gorman looks to be trying to play down the huge growth.
The CEO from Wall Street has said the cryptocurrency "doesn't quite deserve the attention it's getting."
Gorman sees the growth as speculation and warns people of the effects a speculative market can bring, seemingly trying to play down the unprecedented asset growth.
Not even close to a safe investment
The way in which Bitcoin has been viewed by the traditionalist and institutionalized money movers in Wall Street has seen them divided. Some, like Dimon, look to tear it apart with vitriol, while others, like Goldman Sachs Lloyd Blankfein and Fidelity Investments Abigail Johnson, are much more welcoming.
Then there are the middle-grounders, such as Gorman, who on one hand praise -however lightly- Bitcoin, but then try and belittle its growth.
"Something that goes up 700 percent in a year — it's by definition speculative," he said. "So anybody who thinks they're buying something that it's a stable investment is deluding themselves."
"It might go up another 700 percent but it could easily not," Gorman added.
Chances missed?
It sometimes seems that these captains of industry are suffering from a case of sour grapes. Bitcoin, as an opportunity, is unprecedented and now with teenagers and mothers able to cash in and profit more than Wall Street bankers in their traditional means- it hurts them.
Despite the long-term future of Bitcoin, there are some that are not letting the current wave miss them out.
Mike Novogratz, a former manager at fortress investments, has said:
“This is going to be the largest bubble of our lifetimes.”
“Prices are going to get way ahead of where they should be. You can make a whole lot of money on the way up, and we plan on it.”
This traditional investor is happy to make hay while the sun shines, leaving those who are speculating about a speculative market to speculate out in the cold.
What does the future hold?
No one knows where Bitcoin will be in 10 years or five, or one for that matter, however, what is apparent now is that there is money to be made.
For investors, staring at something that has currently made over 700 percent gains in less than a year and to do nothing about it, screams of missed opportunity.
Some excuses are as stale as the banking bureaucracy that governs Wall Street. Regulations, central banks, anonymity and criminal activities are all spouted as reasons not to get involved.
However, for people whose sole purpose is to profit, the rhetoric surrounding Bitcoin’s negative side should not be a reason to ignore it.
In a letter to its investors, clients and portfolio managers, JP Morgan Analyst Robert D. Boroujerdi wrote:
"With the total value nearly $120 bln, it’s getting harder for institutional investors to ignore cryptocurrencies. There are currently over 800 cryptocurrencies out there, though just nine have a market cap in excess of $1 bln.”
This was only three months ago, and that $120 bln figure is nearly doubled...