In the latest research report, financial giant JPMorgan Chase & Co. has recently shared its belief in Bitcoin and the crypto market. Bloomberg reported, citing data from the financial services firm, that the current downtrend phase in the crypto market might just be nearing its conclusion.
Notably, the deceleration in the market momentum, primarily attributed to a series of positive legal and regulatory developments that eventually lost steam, is in its last stretch, according to the banking institution.
Market Dynamics And Future Predictions
JPMorgan’s analyst, Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, analyzed the situation and highlighted the diminishing open interest in the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Bitcoin futures contracts.
In the financial realm, when open interest, which reflects the cumulative unsettled and active futures contracts on exchanges, plunges, it often signals a weakening price trend. Consequently, the report suggests, “We see limited downside for crypto markets over the near term.”
The crypto domain witnessed an uplift in recent months. This surge can be attributed to multiple applications, led predominantly by BlackRock Inc., aiming to roll out the first US spot BTC exchange-traded funds.
A favorable courtroom verdict for Ripple Labs in its legal confrontation with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also contributed to the further uplift in the market sentiment.
However, the initial exuberance has been waning, according to the report. Market participants are now in anticipation mode, awaiting resolve on spot Bitcoin ETF approvals.
Meanwhile, the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) impending appeal against the Ripple decision, which is yet to be disclosed, amplifies a “new round of legal uncertainty,” heightening the market’s responsiveness to subsequent legal developments, according to the report.
Bitcoin (BTC) Latest Price Action
So far, Bitcoin is still struggling to break above a notable resistance. The asset has ranged between the $25,000 and $26,000 zone in the past 7 days and currently trades for $25,890, at the time of writing.
Bitcoin has seen a decline of more than 10% in the past two weeks, and it is currently in red, down by nearly 1% over the past 24 hours.
Alongside its price, Bitcoin’s daily trading volume has also plunged in the past week, indicating less trading activity. The asset’s daily trading volume has fallen from a high of over $30 billion recorded last Friday to $12.1 billion in the previous 24 hours.
Notably, the recent pullback in crypto isn’t isolated. It mirrors a larger recalibration across risk assets, like equities. According to JPMorgan’s report: “Frothy positioning in tech, elevated US real yields, and apprehensions regarding China’s economic trajectory,” were key contributing factors.
Featured image from Unsplash, Chart from TradingView