BlackRock Says Most Clients See Bitcoin as “Digital Gold,” Not a Payment Network

Market Context
This view comes as the broader digital-asset market matures and institutional investors seek clearer roles for cryptocurrencies in portfolios. Bitcoin’s narrative has gradually shifted away from being simply a means of exchange toward being treated as an alternative asset class. At the same time, payments and remittance use-cases remain dominated by stablecoins and growing fintech solutions. Given lingering scalability, infrastructure and regulatory concerns, institutional money appears to prefer Bitcoin’s safe-harbour storyline — while placing less weight on transactional utility. 

Technical Details with Attribution

• According to Robbie Mitchnick, Head of Digital Assets at BlackRock, most clients are “not really underwriting … the global payment network case” for Bitcoin. 
• He described Bitcoin’s payment use-case as “a little bit more speculative,” noting that further development in scaling, network builds (e.g., the Lightning Network) and ecosystem adoption would be required for it to be a credible payment method. 
• In contrast, the firm emphasises that stablecoins have achieved “huge product-market fit as a payment instrument,” being used for efficient value transfer and expanding into corporate, retail and cross-border applications. 

Analyst Perspectives
Analysts take this as confirmation of a broader trend: institutional money increasingly sees Bitcoin as a complement to gold, rather than a substitute for fiat or payment rails. One perspective holds that this mindset supports a longer-term investment horizon for Bitcoin — tied to scarcity and adoption risk — but also suggests a ceiling on its utility premium until payment adoption rises. Others caution that if Bitcoin fails to develop payment functionality over time, the “store of value” thesis alone may become vulnerable to competition from alternative asset classes or central-bank digital currencies.

Global Impact Note
This institutional positioning could influence how Bitcoin is regulated, marketed and adopted globally. If major asset managers treat Bitcoin more like a commodity-hedge rather than a transactional medium, product‐design (ETFs, funds), regulation (securities vs commodities) and infrastructure investment may shift accordingly. Moreover, for emerging markets where payments use-cases drive adoption, the lag in Bitcoin being used as a payments rail might favour alternative crypto-assets or stablecoins — thus affecting regional crypto dynamics and competitive landscapes.