If consultants start recommending exposure to bitcoin to their clients, the result would be extremely bullish.
In the institutional world, consultants are the guardians of capital.
The institutional perspective on bitcoin is changing.
StepStone, an investment consulting firm, published a report analyzing the role of bitcoin (BTC) as a store of value and safe-haven asset, highlighting its strong performance and growing adoption among institutional investors.
The report, titled 'The Turning Point of Cryptocurrencies: From Speculation to Real-World Adoption,' does not issue a direct recommendation on BTC, but the tone of the analysis suggests that it should be considered in investment portfolio diversification strategies.
This reflects that the institutional perspective is beginning to change, which could result in large volumes of money starting to flow into bitcoin.
According to the firm advising on approximately 700 billion dollars in total capital, the digital asset industry 'has left its speculative phase behind' and is entering a stage of synergy, where institutional adoption and regulatory clarity will be key to its growth.
The consulting firm compares this moment to the transition of the Internet from dial-up access to broadband: a technical shift that enables real and massive applications.
Among the signs of maturity, the report mentions the approval of spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for BTC and ether (ETH), the native currency of the Ethereum ecosystem.
'These instruments allow large investors to gain exposure to crypto-assets without the need to acquire them directly, which reduces technical and custody barriers, and opens the door to greater institutional capital allocation to the sector,' the report highlights.
It also emphasizes that 'just as the introduction of gold ETFs in the early 2000s drove institutional demand for the metal, bitcoin ETFs could represent a similar turning point for digital assets.'
To illustrate this, it compares the capital inflow into gold ETFs after their launch with that received by bitcoin in its first year.
While funds backed by metal took years to attract significant volumes, those of BTC raised over 37 billion dollars in just twelve months.
