JPMorgan Says Investors Can Put 1% of Their Portfolios in Bitcoin Despite Calling It a Poor Hedge

After saying that cryptocurrencies “rank as the poorest hedge for major drawdowns in equities, with questionable diversification benefits,” JPMorgan says investors can put 1% of their portfolios in cryptocurrencies. This can help “achieve any efficiency gain in the overall risk-adjusted returns of the portfolio,” the firm’s strategists explained.

Investors Can Allocate 1% of Portfolios to Bitcoin, Says JPMorgan

JPMorgan Chase now sees benefits in adding a small percentage of bitcoin to a multi-asset portfolio. The firm’s global head of research, Joyce Chang, and vice president of strategic research, Amy Ho, wrote in a note to clients Wednesday:

In a multi-asset portfolio, investors can likely add up to 1% of their allocation to cryptocurrencies in order to achieve any efficiency gain in the overall risk-adjusted returns of the portfolio.

However, the strategists clarified: “Cryptocurrencies are investment vehicles and not funding currencies. So when looking to hedge a macro event with a currency, we recommend a hedge through funding currencies like the yen or U.S. dollar instead.”

While many analysts believe that bitcoin is a way to hedge against significant fluctuations in traditional asset classes, including stocks, bonds, and commodities, JPMorgan has doubts. It was only last week that the investment bank claimed bitcoin was an “economic sideshow,” adding:

Crypto assets continue to rank as the poorest hedge for major drawdowns in equities, with questionable diversification benefits at prices so far above production costs, while correlations with cyclical assets are rising as crypto ownership is mainstreamed.

JP Morgan also said that the recent prices of bitcoin are well above the cryptocurrency’s fair value estimates. The firm further asserted that mainstream adoption increases bitcoin’s correlation with cyclical assets, which rise and fall with economic changes. This reduces bitcoin’s benefits of diversifying portfolios. Nonetheless, its most recent report recommends that investors can add a small percentage of bitcoin to their portfolios.

The investment bank has come a long way since its CEO Jamie Dimon called the cryptocurrency a fraud back in September 2017. Earlier this month, JPMorgan’s co-president Daniel Pinto said that he is certain the demand for bitcoin “will be [there] at some point.” The executive confirmed: “If over time an asset class develops that is going to be used by different asset managers and investors, we will have to be involved.” Moreover, the firm’s analysts have predicted that bitcoin’s price could reach $146,000 as the cryptocurrency’s competition with gold heats up.