Bitcoin posts another record high as JPMorgan touts its potential as 'emerging asset class'

Bitcoin posts new high of $11,829 in early trade in London on Tuesday morning.
The rise comes as JPMorgan says new futures contracts could "elevate cryptocurrencies to an emerging asset class."

LONDON — Bitcoin's meteoric price rise is continuing, amid growing interest in the cryptocurrency from institutional investors.

Bitcoin posted a new record high against the dollar on Tuesday morning, hitting $11,829 at around 8.00 a.m. GMT (3.00 a.m. ET) according to Markets Insider data.

bitcoin

The rise comes amid growing interest from institutional investors in the cryptocurrency, which until recently were viewed with relative disdain by figures in the world of traditional finance.

Cboe Global Markets, the Chicago-based options and derivatives exchange, announced on Monday that it will launch bitcoin futures contracts next week. Rival CME Group has already announced plans for a similar product.

JPMorgan said in a note sent to clients last week that futures contracts have "the potential to elevate cryptocurrencies to an emerging asset class."

"The value of this new asset class is a function of the breadth of its acceptance as a store of wealth and as a means of payment," analyst Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou and his team said in the note. "Simply judging by other stores of wealth such as gold, cryptocurrencies have the potential to grow further from here."

Panigirtzoglou's optimism comes despite a track record of negative comments about bitcoin from JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon. Dimon said in September that bitcoin is a fraud that is "worse than tulip bulbs," referencing the famous speculative bubble in the Netherlands in the 17th century.

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