Bitcoin price boom will come from retail, not institutions: Fireblocks CEO

According to CEO and co-founder Michael Shaulov, while the approved BlackRock Spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) will infuse new institutional money into bitcoin, it will be retail investors who will ultimately drive any significant price growth. Institutional Custody Platform by Fireblocks.

On June 15, investment giant BlackRock filed for a spot bitcoin ETF, prompting other financial firms to file theirs as well, as the bitcoin price hit its highest level in a year.

However, while many expect institutional involvement in crypto to drive prices higher, Shaulov believes that this does not have to be the case.

“When institutions come in to participate in the market and they are doing it in a quiet way, they are able to do it without changing the price,” Shaulov told Cointelegraph during Australian Blockchain Week.

According to Shaulov, mid-2020 saw a “massive inflow” of institutional money, but prices didn’t really rise until retail investors unleashed a frenzy on crypto assets at the end of the year.

“Even if there was massive inflow, those institutions were sophisticated enough to acquire (BTC) slowly and use algorithms that would not move the market.”

Instead, “a 50% increase[came]from retail (…) because they are participating in a way that is less sophisticated and increases the price dramatically,” he explained.

That being said, Shaulov said that “the physics of bitcoin” — primarily its limited supply — means that any large-scale buying and selling of bitcoin should move the needle.

“For some institutions that are not currently participating in the market, it will certainly be easier to add bitcoin to their allocation.”

Why bitcoin?

Interestingly, Shaulov – who founded Fireblocks in 2018 – believes the narrative on bitcoin is still “playing out” for these institutions.

Today, many bitcoin-based narratives are still in circulation, said Shaulov: Is it a hedge against inflation? Is it a public reserve currency? Is it a hedge against government financial missteps?

You work for it.

They just print it and laugh at it.

Why would you be played like this?#bitcoin fixes it. pic.twitter.com/omVxsB9zCV

— Danielle Prince (@PrinceySOV) 26 June 2023

Shaulov said that he personally believes that bitcoin is the “ultimate insurance asset”.

Connected: Fireblocks VP: Big Names Won’t Back Down After Discovering Crypto Payments Potential

“All the qualities (of something) are present in it when everything is corroded. It is an asset that is separate from the government. It is an asset that can be digitally native, it is an asset that can be easily transferred.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s worth $15,000, $20,000 or $60,000 at one point. To survive for a period, you just need to have enough of it in that variation,” he said.

Opinion: GOP crypto maxis almost as bad as the Dems’ ‘anti-crypto army’