The recent surge in bitcoin and the broader crypto market is primarily driven by retail and speculative institutional investors buying both gold and bitcoin futures rather than investors shifting from gold to bitcoin, according to JPMorgan analysts.

Since their launch earlier this year, spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds have seen heavy inflows, while gold ETFs have witnessed outflows. This leads to the general interpretation that investors are shifting from gold to bitcoin, but that isn't the case, JPMorgan analysts led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou wrote in a report on Thursday. Instead, retail and institutional investors have been purchasing both gold and bitcoin futures, leading to the rally, the analysts said.

"Beyond retail investors, speculative institutional investors such as hedge …