Bitcoin Price Suddenly Soars As Congress Predicted To ‘Make History’

"Between mid-February and mid-April gold was rising at the expense of bitcoin, while of the past three weeks we have been observing the opposite, i.e. bitcoin rising at the expense of gold," JPMorgan analysts led by managing director Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou wrote in a note seen by Decrypt.

"In all, we expect the year-to-date zero sum game between gold and bitcoin to extend to the remainder of the year, but are biased towards crypto-specific catalysts creating more upside for bitcoin over gold into the second half of the year."

Those "crypto-specific catalysts" include the passage of pro-crypto laws and regulations in the U.S. as well as Trump’s support of the technology. Elsewhere, Wall Street and tech giants are quietly gearing up to blow up the crypto market.

05/18 update: A U.S. bill that would regulate stablecoin issuers, formerly introducing crypto into the established financial system, will be debated by Congress this coming week, with some claiming it’s poised to pass the Senate.

“Next week, the Senate will make history when we debate and pass the Genius Act that establishes the first ever pro-growth regulatory framework for payment stablecoins,” Republican senator Bill Hagerty from Tennessee, who sponsored the "Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (Genius) Act, said in a statement.

After Democrats raised eleventh hour concerns over the bill earlier this month that stemmed from U.S. president Donald Trump and his administration’s links to the crypto world, the bill has been redrafted to satisfy Democrats concerned with consumer protection and national security elements, according to a copy seen by Coindesk.

“Let’s get this home, we are ready for adoption and to revolutionise the way this financial market works,” Bo Hines, executive director of the president’s council of advisors for digital assets, said during the Consensus crypto conference this week.

“We’re actually having these conversations in real-time—I’m extremely confident in the fact that they will get it pushed through, we’d love to see it on the president’s desk. We’re well on our way to achieving the presidents’ goal. We are moving extremely quickly and effectively.”

Crypto companies have long been calling for regulation, with Congress under president Joe Biden trying and failing to get rules for stablecoins and issuers passed into law.

"The industry wants regulation," investor Ira Auerbach from Offchain Labs said in emailed comments. “The message from those I engage with is clear: Give us the rules of the game and watch innovation flourish.”

In April, the JPMorgan analysts warned bitcoin’s burgeoning reputation as “digital gold" was under pressure as the bitcoin price failed to hold up in the face extreme market volatility triggered by Trump’s global trade war.

The bitcoin price plummeted to around $75,000 per bitcoin, dropping over 30% from its all-time high of almost $110,000, as traders panicked over Trump’s tariffs but has since bounced back to over $100,000.

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Bitcoin price bulls have remained upbeat, however, with Miller Value Partners chief investment officer and chairman, Bill Miller IV, tellingCNBC the bitcoin price will keep climbing until it eclipses gold’s $20 trillion market capitalization.

“Bitcoin’s back in the six-figures with a lot of room to go. If you compare its primary functional use case, a check and a balance on the lack of accountability in fiat unit creation, we still have a long way to go,” Miller said, predicting bitcoin’s “functional superiority” will push it to a price of $1 million per bitcoin.

The gold price has hit its own record high this year as investors flee to the traditional safe haven, though it has dipped in recent weeks as the global trade war looks increasingly close to being resolved.

With bitcoin’s market capitalization “back above $2 trillion and gold trading north of $3,200/oz, the two now stand side-by-side—as hedges against geopolitical turmoil and, increasingly, as high-conviction stores of value for the future,” Gadi Chait, head of investment at bitcoin and crypto custody company Xapo Bank, said in emailed comments.