Analyst who was behind a bearish bitcoin note now predicts a comeback

Editor’s Note: There is a desperate need for regulatory clarity around cryptocurrency. If the big players in crypto and banking/brokerage ever launch an aggressive effort to encourage regulators we might get some direction as early as this year. The US is the biggest potential market not actively participating in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The lack of participation comes from bubble bursts around regulation obscurity and its resulting crypto trading exposure.

The article below was published on CNBC February 6, 2019 by Stephanie Landsman

Bitcoin fever could return to Wall Street.

The J.P. Morgan analyst behind a report that found major firms are losing interest in cryptocurrencies isn’t ruling out renewed interest.

Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou wrote on December 15 that participation by financial institutions in bitcoin trading was fading. On Tuesday, he said on CNBC’s “Futures Now” that the situation is likely temporary.

According to Panigirtzoglou, the firms should renew interest in crypocurrencies as stability grows.

“The stability that we are seeing right now in the cryptocurrency market is setting the stage for more participation by institutional investors in the future,” he said. “The cryptocurrency market was a new market. It went through a bubble phase [and] the burst.”

He expects the firms will begin re-entering the space as the importance of blockchain — the digital system that records cryptocurrency transactions — grows.

However, Panigirtzoglou contends it could be years away.

“The big obstacle is regulators right now,” Panigirtzoglou said, adding that regulatory oversight is a “bit slow to realize.”

During the epic bitcoin breakout year in 2017, it soared to $19,783.21. This week, it’s been trading just under $3,500, an 83 percent plunge from its all-time high.