Morgan Stanley Says Bitcoin Needs Regulation to Keep Rising
- Cryptocurrency has more than tripled in value this year
- Autonomous nature of virtual currencies an initial attraction
Morgan Stanley's headquarters in New York on Oct. 7, 2016.
Photographer: Mark Kauzlarich/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
While Morgan Stanley is high on the blockchain technology that underpins bitcoin, analysts at the investment bank are a bit more cautious when it comes to the surge in the price of the virtual currency.
“The rapid appreciation of cryptocurrencies has elicited many inbound phone calls to both our banks and tech teams,” the firm wrote in a report titled ‘Blockchain: Unchained?’ that was released Tuesday. “Possible explanations include investors in search of uncorrelated risk assets and technologists looking for incremental security. But governmental acceptance would be required for this to further accelerate, the price of which is regulation.”