JP Morgan surveyed more than 4,000 institutional traders as part of its eTrading survey. It found that 78% had no plans to trade cryptocurrencies, up from 72% last year. The number of active traders increased to 9% (8% in 2023).
The megabank also asked about which technologies would likely have the most impact. Blockchain only garnered a 7% vote, while 61% see AI as having a major impact. In contrast, the two technologies were neck and neck at 25% in 2022.
Stepping back, crypto is the most likely to have an impact on blockchain tech adoption in trading. It would be interesting to get the opinion of staff in the back office, where blockchain’s role is more significant. Secondary market trading of tokenized securities tends to happen in a more conventional manner.
That said, the launch of the spot Bitcoin ETFs in January is expected to spur more institutional investment interest. And trading should follow investment. Blackrock’s IBIT ETF now has a market capitalization of more than $3.5 billion, while Fidelity’s Wise FBTC reached $2.3 billion. The survey was run between January 8 and 22, and the Bitcoin ETFs gained approval on January 10. Perhaps the survey was too soon to account for the ETF impact.
