Bitcoin The recent strength amid geopolitical uncertainty reflects a fundamental shift in the asset’s ownership structure, according to Wall Street broker Bernstein.
The cryptocurrency climbed about 7% last week, while ether (ETH) gained about 9%, outperforming gold and global stock indexes as markets reacted to the escalating global conflict. The broker said the performance highlights how institutional ownership is reshaping the market.
“We believe the combination of Strategy’s treasury model and ETFs has transformed Bitcoin’s ownership structure,” analysts led by Gautam Chhugani said in Monday’s report.
The strategy, which analysts described as acting as a “Bitcoin central bank of last resort,” continued to buy during the downturn. The company extended its weekly buying streak, acquiring approximately $1.57 billion worth of BTC, according to a filing Monday.
The company, led by Executive Chairman Michael Saylor, purchased 22,337 bitcoins at an average price of $70,194 each, bringing its total holdings to 761,068 BTC acquired at an average cost of $75,696 per coin.
Strategy also expanded its preferred equity financing strategy through the STRC product, which offers investors high-yield income linked to the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) and has generated increased trading volumes. The additional liquidity allows more bitcoin purchases to be funded through marketplace offerings.
Meanwhile, spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have attracted around $2.1 billion in inflows over the past three weeks, bringing ETF holdings to around 6.1% of the total Bitcoin supply. Analysts said these vehicles are increasingly attracting allocations from wealth managers, pension funds and sovereign investors.
Retail investors have been net sellers in recent months, but long-term holders remain dominant. About 60% of bitcoin’s supply has not changed in more than a year, a sign that many investors continue to view the asset as a long-term store of value, according to the report.
The recent outperformance of Bitcoin during geopolitical tensions has also reignited the debate on its role as “digital gold”. Although the token lagged the precious metal for much of the last year, its gains during the latest period of global uncertainty have prompted some analysts to argue that the asset is starting to behave more like a geopolitical hedge, although the comparison remains contested.
For equity investors, Bernstein added that the strategy (MSTR) remains a high-beta way to gain exposure to bitcoin’s upside, currently trading at a roughly 14% discount to its bitcoin net asset value on a per share basis.
The largest cryptocurrency was trading up 4.4%, around $73,900 at press time. Ether, the second-largest crypto by market capitalization, rose 8.4% to $2,273.
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