Bitcoin on a mound of gold.
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Increased appetite from institutional investors for bitcoin is set to boost inflows to funds that give traders exposure to the red-hot cryptocurrency — to the detriment of gold, according to strategists at J.P. Morgan.
Bitcoin has been on a tear this year, rallying more than 150% year-to-date and outperforming a host of major assets including U.S. stock indexes like the Dow Jones Industrial Average and gold.
Cryptocurrency enthusiasts say it’s down to unprecedented stimulus from the U.S. and other global governments.
Investors often look to gold as a so-called “safe haven” in times of economic turbulence, to hedge against potential losses in the event of a market downturn.
Several bitcoin bulls have described the virtual currency as “digital gold,” given its strong performance in 2020 despite the Covid-19 crisis.