Bitcoin has seen a steep price decline since hitting an all-time high just a month ago, raising fears the crypto market could be on the verge of a price crash.
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The bitcoin price, still up around 35% since this time last year, has swung wildly though 2025, dropping to around $75,000 in April before bouncing back as Tesla billionaire Elon Musk stokes concerns over the $38 trillion U.S. debt pile.
Now, as traders fret over a nightmare scenario for the bitcoin price that seems to be suddenly coming true, JPMorgan has revealed its clients are increasingly betting on bitcoin, just as the bank’s analysts predict an imminent bitcoin price boom.
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Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of JPMorgan, is one of the most outspoken bitcoin critics on Wall Street.
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JPMorgan’s brokerage clients lifted their bets on bitcoin via BlackRock’s bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) by 64% over the last few months, the bank revealed in a regulatory filing.
JPMorgan chief executive Jamie Dimon, an outspoken bitcoin and crypto critic, has softened his opposition to the technology in recent years, responding to demand from the bank’s clients for exposure to the highly-volatile asset.
The bets on bitcoin came as U.S. president Donald Trump continues to back bitcoin and crypto, pushing his administration’s crypto agenda and positioning his family’s wealth toward bitcoin and crypto.
Meanwhile, Wall Street has embraced bitcoin, with BlackRock’s IBIT bitcoin ETF this year becoming the fast growing ETF of all-time, hitting $80 billion in assets under management five-times faster than the previous record holder, the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF.
The bitcoin price boom this year came as gold rallied to its own all-time high, leading to speculation bitcoin is well-placed to make further gains.
JPMorgan analysts led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou have upped their bitcoin price target, calling the worst of the volatility “behind us,” and pointing to a volatility-adjusted comparison to gold that could catapult the bitcoin price to $170,000 and giving bitcoin a market capitalization of $3.5 trillion.
“This mechanical exercise thus implies significant upside for bitcoin over the next 6-12 months,” Panigirtzoglou wrote in a note seen by MarketWatch, adding that having been $36,000 too high compared [with] gold at the end of last year, bitcoin is now around $68,000 too low.”
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The bitcoin price has dropped sharply from its all-time high of $126,000 per bitcoin, though JPMorgan has issued a bullish bitcoin price prediction.
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The latest, sudden bitcoin price decline, pushing bitcoin into a technical bear market, has been blamed on long-term holders cashing out.
“We are seeing large, long-term holders of bitcoin take some profits after holding the asset for several years,” Alex Blume, the chief executive of investment advisor Two Prime, said in emailed comments.
“The selling is not having a dramatic impact on the price, however, because they are being bought by large institutions that have come into the market more recently, including ETFs, corporate treasuries and sovereign wealth funds. Looking ahead, we expect that the price will probably be less volatile than in the past and will likely trade sideways for a while.”
Others have pointed to bitcoin ETF inflows toward the end of this week as a sign the bitcoin price and crypto market could be set for a recovery.
“Crypto ETF inflows finally turned positive, which is a rare green print after a muted week,” Gracy Chen, the chief executive at crypto exchange Bitget, said via email. “Far from buying-the-dips, that, to me, looks more like early signs of renewed institutional confidence after several sessions of hesitation.”