$BTC

Sovereign funds invest in BTC while retail investors withdraw, according to a Coinbase executive

John D'Agostino, head of strategy at Coinbase Institutional, compared BTC to gold and said that many see it as a hedge against inflation.

Sovereign wealth funds and other institutions were accumulating Bitcoin

during April 2025, while retail traders were exiting the market through exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and spot markets, according to John D’Agostino, head of strategy at Coinbase Institutional.

During a recent appearance on CNBC, the Coinbase executive compared Bitcoin to gold and said that many institutional buyers acquired BTC as a hedge against monetary inflation and macroeconomic uncertainty. The Coinbase executive stated:

"Bitcoin is trading based on its core characteristics, which again are similar to gold. You have scarcity, immutability, and portability of non-sovereign assets. So it is trading in the way that people who believe in Bitcoin would like it to be traded."

"When you do the analysis, there is a very short list of assets that reflect the characteristics of gold. Bitcoin is on that short list," the executive added.

Governments and financial institutions are increasingly adopting Bitcoin to protect purchasing power and the value of their treasuries against macroeconomic repercussions and geopolitical tensions.

Institutions adopt Bitcoin reserve strategies to combat inflation

Countries like El Salvador and Bhutan have adopted national Bitcoin reserves and are actively purchasing more coins for their reserves.

Municipalities and state governments have also adopted Bitcoin-friendly policies and have proposed legislation to accumulate Bitcoin in order to protect the purchasing power of their treasuries against the depreciation of fiat currencies.