Bitcoin Magazine

JPMorgan: Bitcoin Looks Cheap Compared to Gold, Bitcoin Price to $170,000

JPMorgan strategists say Bitcoin (BTC) now appears undervalued relative to gold following a steep October sell-off driven by leveraged liquidations and market turmoil.

Bitcoin fell more than 20% last month after hitting an all-time high of $126,000, a drop that JPMorgan’s Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou attributed to heavy deleveraging in futures markets and fallout from a $128 million hack of the DeFi platform Balancer. 

He noted that the ratio of open interest in perpetual futures to Bitcoin’s market capitalization has since returned to average levels, suggesting that “excess leverage has largely been cleared.”

ETF outflows have been modest compared to prior inflows, Panigirtzoglou added, pointing to a more stable market backdrop. 

“Most of the deleveraging activity is now behind us,” he said, adding that the futures open interest ratio remains a key indicator for short-term price direction.

On a volatility-adjusted basis, Bitcoin is now trading at a discount compared to gold. JPMorgan’s analysis found that as gold’s price surged above $4,000 per ounce—bringing higher volatility—Bitcoin’s own volatility subsided. To reach parity with gold’s $6.2 trillion in private-sector investment on a risk-adjusted basis, Bitcoin’s price would need to climb roughly two-thirds, to around $170,000.

“Having been $36,000 too high compared with gold at the end of last year, Bitcoin is now around $68,000 too low,” Panigirtzoglou wrote.

JUST IN: $3.4 trillion JPMorgan strategist says #Bitcoin has “significant upside for the next 6-12 months” over gold. pic.twitter.com/KJlmnfsKes

— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) November 6, 2025

With leverage normalized and volatility easing, JPMorgan sees room for “significant upside” over the next six to twelve months if current conditions persist—an outlook that could strengthen Bitcoin’s appeal as a digital alternative to gold in investor portfolios.

Bitcoin price update

Bitcoin is currently trading at $101,977 after a tumultuous October. Bitcoin kicked off October with bull‑momentum, hitting a fresh all‑time high north of approximately $125,000–$126,000 around October 6.

But that euphoria proved short-lived. Soon after the peak, Bitcoin came under pressure: a massive liquidation of over $19 billion in perpetual futures contracts accelerated the unwind.

Macroeconomic jitters — trade tensions, central‑bank ambiguity and risk‑asset weakening — compounded the correction.

By month‑end, Bitcoin had recorded its first losing October since 2018, slipping around 4 %–5 % overall and suffering one of its worst October performances on record. 

Despite the recent fall, the year‑to‐date picture remained positive — though less exuberant than some bulls expected.

Earlier in October, JPMorgan put out some research that suggests Bitcoin could be undervalued versus gold, with potential to rise to $165,000 based on volatility-adjusted comparisons and growing investor demand.

This post JPMorgan: Bitcoin Looks Cheap Compared to Gold, Bitcoin Price to $170,000 first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

Bitcoin Magazine

Newly-Pardoned Changpeng Zhao and Peter Schiff Agree to Bitcoin vs. Gold Debate

Changpeng “CZ” Zhao and Peter Schiff are supposedly taking their long-running argument to the stage.

The Binance founder has agreed to debate the outspoken economist and gold advocate after Schiff publicly challenged him to a “Bitcoin versus tokenized gold” discussion. 

The exchange follows Schiff’s announcement that he’s launching his own blockchain-based gold product — and CZ’s sharp critique that such tokens are “not truly on-chain.”

“As much as you voice against Bitcoin, you are always professional and nonpersonal,” CZ told Schiff on X today. “I appreciate that. Can have a debate about it.”

Schiff replied later: “Absolutely. Several people have already reached out to me offering to moderate. Do you have a preference?”

All this debate talk arrives hours after President Donald Trump granted a full pardon to Changpeng Zhao. President Trump said CZ “wasn’t guilty” and was “persecuted by the Biden administration.”

JUST IN: Binance Founder CZ agrees to Bitcoin vs Gold debate with Peter Schiff. pic.twitter.com/oKtxii6YqH

— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) October 23, 2025

Schiff’s tokenized gold pitch vs. bitcoin

Schiff recently said that he’s building a tokenized gold platform and neobank, with a blockchain token called Tgold at its core. 

The product will reportedly allow users to purchase physical gold through a mobile app, store it in secure vaults, and transfer or redeem it digitally. 

Schiff describes it as “real money for the digital age” — physical gold represented on-chain.

All this comes amid a multiyear gold rally, with prices hitting a record $4,380 per ounce earlier this month before settling near $4,128, at time of writing. 

Schiff argues that tokenized gold could provide a stable, asset-backed alternative to Bitcoin’s volatility, serving as both a medium of exchange and store of value.

CZ pushes back: “It’s a ‘Trust Me Bro’ Token”

CZ wasted no time in firing back.

On X, he called tokenized gold “a ‘trust-me-bro’ token,” arguing that such assets rely on third-party custodians — precisely the kind of centralized trust structures Bitcoin was designed to eliminate.

“Tokenizing gold is NOT ‘on-chain’ gold,” CZ wrote. “It’s tokenizing that you trust some third party will give you gold at some later date — maybe decades later, during a war, after management changes, etc.”

His comments echo a common view among crypto purists: that true digital ownership requires self-custody and verifiable scarcity — traits Bitcoin has, but gold tokens do not.

As of writing, there is not an agreed-upon or specific time for Schiff and CZ to debate.

This post Newly-Pardoned Changpeng Zhao and Peter Schiff Agree to Bitcoin vs. Gold Debate first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.