Bitcoin may inspire bold visions of a global payments network, but that’s not what is driving the bulk of institutional money into the asset today, according to Robbie Mitchnick, BlackRock’s head of digital assets.
“For us, and most of our clients today, they’re not really underwriting to that global payment network case,” he said, adding that the payments thesis is viewed as “out-of-the-money option value” rather than a core investment rationale.
He noted that significant progress would be needed across Bitcoin’s scaling stack before such a shift could occur. “A lot needs to happen in terms of Bitcoin scaling, Lightning, and otherwise to make that possible,” he said. “Stablecoins have been hugely successful in the payments sector,” he said. “They have massive product market fit as a way of moving value around efficiently.”
Mitchnick didn’t dismiss the possibility of Bitcoin eventually gaining traction in payments but said that narrative is still “a little bit more speculative.”
Wood, who once projected BTC could hit $1.5 million by the end of the decade, said that stablecoins have taken over some of the roles she previously expected Bitcoin to dominate. She now sees that long-term forecast dropping by roughly $300,000.
According to him, stablecoins are poised to expand their reach well beyond crypto trading and DeFi into retail remittances, corporate cross-border flows and even capital market settlement.
He argued that this range represents “fire sale” levels tied to the cost bases of major players such as BlackRock’s IBIT ETF at $84K and MicroStrategy’s latest purchases near $73K. His comments landed as traders continue debating whether the market has already seen capitulation following Bitcoin’s slide from its October peak near $125,000.
As reported, Bitwise researcher André Dragosch has warned that Bitcoin may still have room to drop before hitting its true cycle bottom, pointing to a “max-pain” zone between $73,000 and $84,000.
