Today in Crypto: La Haus Sells Colombian House for Bitcoin; JPMorgan’s Asset Management Chief Decries Crypto, NFTs

Michael Cembalest, J.P. Morgan Asset Management chairman of market and investment strategy, said bitcoin’s valuations are “the stuff that dreams are made of” — and he didn’t mean it as a compliment, CoinDesk reported Friday (Feb. 4).

“I won’t be buying it even though part of me wants to, regardless of consequences, since that’s what some crypto holders have been counting on from the beginning,” he wrote.

In a 30-page investigation called “The Maltese Falcoin: On cryptocurrencies and blockchains,” Cembalest writes that crypto has a much-vaunted status that is also brittle, with use cases like store of value, cross-border remittances, decentralized finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and blockchain adoption.

He says he gets why people are interested, as there’s a “massive confidence void” — but in the end, the volatility is “ridiculously high.”

Meanwhile, CoinDesk also reported Friday that bitcoin’s price rose 8.9% to a two-week high of $40,219.

Per the report, this may show that crypto traders are growing more confident that the market has stabilized after its recent slump, and analysts have said there’s a possible short squeeze.

According to Crypto Finance AG senior trader Daniel Kukan, his next price level target on the upside is around $42,000 to $43,000, with market support at $33,000.

The price is still far lower than the high of $69,000 from last November.

Finally, Nasdaq.com reported Friday that Latin American real estate platform La Haus has closed a deal in bitcoin for an apartment in the north of Colombia, a report says.

La Haus’ new deal is the first in bitcoin in Colombia, and the company also recently closed a bitcoin deal in Mexico.

Jehudi Castro, vice president of innovation and future at La Haus, said the transaction is a down payment for an apartment at Natura City, which is an exclusive complex owned by Titles and Real Estate Developments, built at the Bellavista sector in the north of Colombia in Santa Marta.