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Bitcoin Market Cap Briefly Surpasses That of JPMorgan, World’s Largest Bank

Last Updated March 4, 2021 5:02 PM
Joseph Young
Last Updated March 4, 2021 5:02 PM

Bitcoin’s market valuation briefly surpassed that of JPMorgan, the world’s largest bank, earlier today, on December 8.

Bitcoin Market Cap Briefly Surpasses That of JPMorgan, Based on South Korea’s Trading Price

George Kikvadze, a highly regarded bitcoin investor and the vice chairman at major bitcoin mining firm Bitfury, revealed  that the market cap of JPMorgan at $363 billion was surpassed by bitcoin, based on its price in South Korea.

As CCN.com reported yesterday, the South Korean bitcoin exchange market often demonstrates premiums that are significantly higher than other major regions such as the US and Japan. As such, the price difference between the global average price of bitcoin and the trading value within the South Korean market can reach up to 20 to 25 percent.

Today, the price of bitcoin surpassed $22,500 in South Korea, as the global average price of bitcoin peaked at around $17,500. A $22,500 price placed the market valuation of bitcoin at $376 billion, $3 billion higher than that of JPMorgan.

For the global bitcoin price to achieve $22,500, it may take several weeks after the listing of bitcoin futures by the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) and CME Group on December 10 and December 18, respectively.

But, given that the market valuation of bitcoin according to bitcoin’s’ trading value in the South Korean market briefly surpassed the market cap of JPMorgan, the market valuation of bitcoin based on its global average price will likely surpass that of JPMorgan in the short-term, possibly by the year’s end.

What’s Next?

Earlier today, CCN.com reported that Goldman Sachs, the second largest investment bank in the global finance industry behind JPMorgan, will trade bitcoin futures on behalf of its clients upon the launch of the bitcoin futures exchanges of CBOE and CME.

As an increasing number of leading financial institutions, hedge funds, and institutional investors continue to adopt bitcoin in the upcoming months, the price and the market valuation of bitcoin will rapidly surge, especially if tens of billions of dollars in institutional money flow into the bitcoin market, as explained by Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong.

In the long-term, the bitcoin market will be able to compete against gold and the offshore banking industry, which amount to approximately $40 to $50 trillion. As Ari Paul, the co-founder at BlockTower stated, bank executives like JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon understand the massive potential and disruptive nature of bitcoin within the traditional finance sector, specifically in the offshore banking industry.

Bitcoin can process payments and provide a better store of value that are in orders of magnitude superior to the products and services offered by banks, like JPMorgan. Paul explained that it is for that precise reason Dimon had condemned bitcoin in the past, as he considers bitcoin as a competition against JPMorgan and the traditional finance industry.

If bitcoin evolves into a widely recognized and accepted store of value, and successfully penetrates into the markets of gold and offshore banking, the market cap of bitcoin can reach tens of trillions of dollars, in the long-term. As leading electronics retailer Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne said: 

“We have all these currencies since Bretton Woods, fluctuating against each other, and maybe the dollar hasn’t gone to zero against these currencies but all of them have gone down 95% … versus something that they can’t control like … gold and bitcoin. So bitcoin may be on its way to a million for all we know.

Featured image from Shutterstock.