Bitcoin getting 'more attention than it deserves' - Morgan Stanley CEO

Investors who think Bitcoin is a stable investment are “deluding themselves”, Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman has said.

Gorman is adamant that the digital currency, which by mid November had risen to $7,400 from below $1,000 in January, is getting more attention than it deserves and warned potential investors to stay away.

Wall Street bosses have been queuing up to call Bitcoin’s bluff, with the likes of JPMorgan chief Jamie Dimon predicting that the cryptocurrency will experience a devastating crash.

During an interview with CNBC, Gorman was not quite so damning but said it would be foolish to see it as a safe bet.

"Something that goes up 700% in a year — it's by definition speculative," he said. "So anybody who thinks they're buying something that it's a stable investment is deluding themselves."

"It might go up another 700%, but it could easily not," Gorman added.

Gorman acknowledged that Bitcoin is more than just a flash in the pan, and admitted that it does not appear to be going away quite as fast as many had predicted.

“The question is as acceptance is growing with Bitcoin and usability is growing, clearly it’s not going away.”

The recent jump in Bitcoin is a reaction to the cryptocurrency moving closer to the mainstream, with the giant futures and options trading exchange CME announcing that it will offer Bitcoin futures.

But it is also a reaction to the heightened economic and geopolitical uncertainty that many investors feel, with Kathleen Brooks at CityIndex in London said: "Bitcoin is not controlled by capricious central banks or government administrations, and in this environment that is an attractive quality to have."