Some banks and financial institutions offer — or are considering offering — cryptocurrency to their investing clients, a move that strengthens the bitcoin bull case despite recent volatility. Just this week, Wells Fargo (WFC) announced that it would begin to offer cryptocurrency to some clients as interest spikes once again.
But the embrace of bitcoin on Wall Street is far from guaranteed. In a note Wednesday from UBS global wealth management, CIO Mark Haefele poured cold water on bitcoin, stressing its position that the cryptocurrency is a “speculative asset.”
“The portfolio benefits of holding cryptos are limited, in our view,” he wrote.
UBS’s take matters, because the institutional aspect has become increasingly important for bitcoin’s narrative. Speaking to CNBC on May 18, crypto evangelist Mike Novogratz said that Morgan Stanley (MS) “just trained 4,000 financial advisers to sell bitcoin” and that bitcoin fans are going to “have these armies of newly anointed proselytizers.”
Putting aside the fact that proselytizing an investment isn’t exactly the job of a financial adviser, bitcoin bulls are watching financial institutions and large companies closely. This is perhaps best illustrated by Tesla’s (TSLA) relationship with the crypto asset, and how the price changes in response to Elon Musk’s
