Bitcoin will likely outperform stocks and bonds the rest of the year, according to the first major Wall Street strategist to issue a report on the digital currency. <\/p>\n
\"I think bitcoin is an underowned asset with potential for huge institutional sponsorship coming,\" Fundstrat co-founder Tom Lee said Wednesday on CNBC's \"Fast Money.\" <\/p>\n
\"It has a lot of characteristics that are very similar to gold that I think will make it ultimately attractive as an alternate currency,\" he said. \"It's a good store of value.\" <\/p>\n
Here's Lee's outlook on bitcoin given on the show into year-end: <\/p>\n
Gold or bitcoin? Bitcoin? <\/p>\n
\"Yes.\" <\/p>\n
Would you rather own bitcoin versus a basket of U.S. stocks? <\/p>\n
\"Between now and year end it's easily bitcoin.\" <\/p>\n
Will bitcoin be the best performing asset? <\/p>\n
\"Yes.\" <\/p>\n
Bitcoin leaped to record highs this week above $3,500, more than tripling in value for the year despite a split in the currency last week into bitcoin and bitcoin cash, an alternative version supported by a minority of developers. <\/p>\n
Bitcoin traded 1.5 percent higher near $3,428 Thursday morning, according to CoinDesk. Bitcoin cash steadied after wild swings in its first week, trading near $303, according to CoinMarketCap. <\/p>\n
Another digital currency, ethereum, rose 1 percent to just under $300, according to CoinDesk. <\/p>\n
Bitcoin three-month performance <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Source: CoinDesk <\/p>\n
Lee published a report in early July outlining the potential for bitcoin to rise above $20,000 and potentially reach $55,000 by 2022. Formerly the top stock strategist at JPMorgan and a perennial favorite of big institutional investors, Lee was also one of the few on Wall Street to predict that a Donald Trump win in last year's election would cause stocks to rally, not fall like most had seen. <\/p>\n
Lee sees another reason for optimism about bitcoin. <\/p>\n
\"Institutions have to directly buy the coin today through a broker, but both the CBOE and the CFTC have opened up options futures trading, so I think it's going to grow in holdings,\" he told CNBC. <\/p>\n
In the last month, the Chicago Board Options Exchange said it plans to offer bitcoin futures by early next year, while the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission approved a digital currency trading firm called LedgerX to clear derivatives. <\/p>\n
Market strategists have noted there are few highly attractive investment opportunities with U.S. stocks at all-time highs and bonds steady as the Federal Reserve remains on a gradual pace of monetary policy tightening and gold in a trading range. <\/p>\n
The median S&P 500 target of strategists surveyed by CNBC is 2,475, just a point above where the stock index closed Wednesday. Lee happens to be the most bearish among those strategists with a year-end target of 2,275, or 8 percent below Wednesday's close. <\/p>\n
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Top Wall Street strategist expects bitcoin to be the best asset through year-end - CNBC<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Bitcoin will likely outperform stocks and bonds the rest of the year, according to the first major Wall Street strategist to issue a report on the digital currency. \"I think bitcoin is an underowned asset with potential for huge institutional sponsorship coming,\" Fundstrat co-founder Tom Lee said Wednesday on CNBC's \"Fast Money.\" \"It has a lot of characteristics that are very similar to gold that I think will make it ultimately attractive as an alternate currency,\" he said. \"It's a good store of value.\" Here's Lee's outlook on bitcoin given on the show into year-end: Gold or bitcoin? Continue reading