Crypto Currents: JPMorgan eyes bitcoin at $170,000

Hedge funds are increasing their crypto exposure, encouraged by a friendlier regulatory environment. This institutional push is highlighted by a new $170,000 price target for bitcoin from JPMorgan, while firms like Cango are pivoting to AI and Coinbase clashes with banks over new stablecoin rules. Stay up on the crypto news that matters with “Crypto Currents,” daily from The Fly. Join us at 2 PM ET for your essential briefing on the fast-moving world of cryptocurrency on FlyCast radio, Also, subscribe to our YouTube channel for the Crypto Fly By weekly recap.

HEDGE FUND CRYPTO HOLDINGS RISE , JPMORGAN EYES $170K BITCOIN: Hedge funds are increasingly adding cryptocurrency to their portfolios, according to a new survey from the Alternative Investment Management Association and PwC, covered by Bloomberg. The report found that 55% of traditional hedge funds now hold crypto, up from 47% in 2024.

Nearly half of the institutional investors surveyed were encouraged by the current U.S. regulatory climate, which includes the passage of the GENIUS Act for stablecoins. Among crypto-focused funds, the most popular assets were bitcoin (BTC-USD), followed by ether (ETH-USD) and solana (SOL-USD). The report notes that major asset managers like Steven Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management and Elliott Investment Management have reported holdings in crypto ETFs.

This institutional embrace is echoed by banking giant JPMorgan (JPM), which set an “ultra-bullish” price prediction for bitcoin of around $170,000. According to Finbold, analysts at the bank believe a recent reset in market leverage has cleared the way for significant upside, based on bitcoin’s volatility relative to gold.

Analysts at Standard Chartered (SCBFF) also voiced strong conviction, with BeInCrypto reporting that the bank’s head of Digital Assets Research called bitcoin the “apex asset” underpinning the entire decentralized finance ecosystem.

TETHER, SBI, AND VANECK ADVANCE ASSET TOKENIZATION INITIATIVES: The tokenization of traditional assets is accelerating, with Tether’s tokenization arm teaming up with ETF issuer KraneShares and Bitfinex Securities to develop tokenized financial products. The CEO of KraneShares, Jonathan Krane, stated he believes the firm’s business “will be 100% tokenized” in the next three to four years.

In a separate move, SBI Digital Markets, the digital asset arm of Japan’s SBI Group, is strengthening its partnership with Chainlink. SBI will use Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol, or CCIC, as its exclusive solution for its digital asset platform, building on previous work with UBS (UBS) under Project Guardian.

Furthering the trend, tokenization platform Securitize and asset manager VanEck are bringing their tokenized U.S. Treasury fund, VBILL, to Horizon, Aave’s (AAVE-USD) institutional DeFi platform. The integration will use Chainlink’s (LINK-USD) oracle technology to provide verified pricing data.

CANGO EYES NYSE LISTING, PLANS DUAL-PURPOSE AI AND BITCOIN MINING SITES: Chinese automotive firm Cango (CANG), which pivoted to bitcoin mining last year, announced plans to strengthen its mining operations and enter the artificial intelligence high-performance computing market. In a shareholder letter, the company said it would acquire “dual-purpose energy infrastructure” to service both bitcoin mining and future HPC deployments. Cango’s board has also approved a direct listing on the New York Stock Exchange, expected to go live on November 17.

COINBASE CLASHES WITH BANKS OVER STABLECOIN YIELD RULES; TANGEM PREPS VISA CARD: A regulatory battle is brewing over the implementation of the GENIUS Act for stablecoins. According to Cointelegraph, Coinbase (COIN) sent a letter to the U.S. Treasury urging it to limit the law’s ban on interest payments to stablecoin issuers only. This would allow non-issuers, like crypto exchanges, to continue offering yield on stablecoin holdings.

However, several traditional banking groups, led by the Bank Policy Institute, are pushing back. The banking lobby has urged the Treasury to implement a blanket ban on all stablecoin interest payments, arguing that yield-bearing stablecoins could trigger deposit outflows from the traditional banking system.

In other product news, crypto wallet maker Tangem is launching Tangem Pay, a non-custodial virtual Visa (V) card, in late November. The card will allow users to spend USDC stablecoins from the Polygon network, home of the native polygon (MATIC-USD) token, anywhere Visa is accepted, including via Apple (AAPL) Pay and Google (GOOGL) Pay.

PRICE ACTION: As of time of writing, bitcoin was trading at $101,073.59, while ether was trading at $3,288.11, according to price data from CoinDesk.