JPMorgan puts Bitcoin above stocks and gold: the returns Wall Street expects over the next 15 years

Bitcoin is gaining increasing recognition from the traditional financial world. Where major banks were sceptical of cryptocurrencies for years, that stance now appears to be changing fast. JPMorgan is also taking a notable step by including Bitcoin in its long-term forecasts for the financial markets.

In its latest report containing the so-called Long-Term Capital Market Assumptions, the American bank predicts that Bitcoin could deliver an average annual return of around 10% over the next ten to fifteen years. That would mean the largest cryptocurrency outperforms many traditional investments.

JPMorgan expects US equities to deliver average annual returns of 7.5% over the same period. Gold, which has been seen for decades as a safe haven during economic uncertainty, comes in at around 5.5% a year under the forecasts.

Volatile

The inclusion of Bitcoin in the long-term models of a bank such as JPMorgan is seen by analysts as an important signal. It underlines how quickly crypto is maturing as an investment category. Where Bitcoin was once often portrayed as a speculative experiment for tech enthusiasts, more and more institutional investors now regard the digital coin as a serious component of a diversified portfolio.

Several developments support that optimism. These include the introduction of spot Bitcoin ETFs, growing institutional demand and the limited supply of new bitcoins, which together create favourable long-term fundamentals.

That does not mean the risks have disappeared. Bitcoin remains a volatile asset that can show sharp price swings in the short term. Yet JPMorgan’s message is clear: investors looking purely at expected long-term returns may be better off with Bitcoin than with equities or gold. For Wall Street, that is a striking and historic change of course.