Jurrien Timmer, director of global macro at Fidelity, has stated that Bitcoin is acting like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, the central characters of the famous gothic horror novella written by Scottish novelist Robert Louis Stevenson.
The highly creative metaphor was used by Timmer to convey his point about the dual nature of Bitcoin. The cryptocurrency can simultaneously act as a store of value (Dr. Jekyll) and a risk-on asset (Mr. Hyde). Meanwhile, gold is “hard money and nothing else,” according to Timmer.
“Therefore, while we always know which gold is going to show up for the party, with Bitcoin we are never quite sure if it will be Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde,” Timmer said.
In the famous novella, Dr. Henry Jekyll, a respected Londoner, manages to create a potion that is capable of transforming him into Mr. Edward Hyde, an immoral person with dark desires. The character has to juggle between these two contrasting identities.
Stevenson’s novel became a huge hit in Victorian England upon its release, becoming an instant gothic classic. Its popularity was then amplified by the 1931 film adaptation with Fredric March, which is considered to be a proto-body horror classic with its impressive special effects that were ahead of their time.
Timmer believes that Bitcoin, which can perform both a store of value and a speculative risk-on asset, should be part of investor portfolios.
“It’s as good a reason as any to own both when it comes to stores of value,” Timmer said.
In the meantime, JPMorgan says that Bitcoin has failed to perform as a safe-haven asset.