Bitcoin price continued to strengthen Wednesday amid growing concerns that the Silicon Valley Bank (NASDAQ:SIVB) crisis will likely have a contagion effect on the rest of the traditional banking sector.
Although Bitcoin price initially slid down in a risky trading environment, the world’s largest cryptocurrency later rallied 27% from Friday’s lows and hit a 3-week high.
For Morgan Stanley equity strategists, this could be Bitcoin’s time to shine.
“Bitcoin was created as a way for anyone to store value in a personal digital wallet without the need for an intermediary bank to store that value or to facilitate transactions,” the strategists wrote in a client note.
However, they cautioned that the price movement shows that Bitcoin is not isolated from the traditional banking system.
“Our conclusion is that the Bitcoin network can operate without banks, but the price of bitcoin, and thus its purchasing power, has been and continues to be affected by fiat central bank policies and requires banks to facilitate flows into crypto,” the strategists added in a note.
“If bitcoin trades on its core value proposition – the ability to “Be Your Own Bank” – then bitcoin will strengthen with increasing bank uncertainty.”
They further argue that the unfolding rally in Bitcoin is most likely the result of a “brief pressure rather than a fundamental shift in trading dynamics.”
Finally, the strategists also touched on a question that has been discussed by several in crypto circles in recent days – will holders of USD deposits turn to bitcoin due to uncertainty regarding their bank deposits?
“Some people might convert, but we think it’s too early to say that this is a trend that will last. Bitcoin generally continues to be traded in line with the growth of the money supply (M2). Without bitcoin being used significantly as a means of payment, it will it is difficult for bitcoin to deviate from the trading nature of its risk assets,” the strategists concluded.
