Today at the Token2049 conference in Dubai, Robert Mitchnick, BlackRock’s Head of Digital Assets, shed some insight that capital is once again flowing
Capital is once again flowing robustly into spot Bitcoin ETFs, but with a notable shift in who is investing, according to Robert Mitchnick, BlackRock’s Head of Digital Assets.
Today at the Token2049 conference in Dubai, Mitchnick elaborated on the changing composition of the investor base as he chatted with Bloomberg’s Eric Balchunas, VanEck CEO Jan Van Eck, and CME Group’s Giovanni Vicioso.
“When the Bitcoin ETFs first launched, the majority of the inflows were coming from retail clients, with some high-net-worth individuals placing positions as large as $100 million,” Mitchnick revealed. However, this has changed over time. “Every quarter, the percentage held by retail clients has gone down while the percentage held by institutional and wealth advisory clients has gone up,” he said in the panel discussion.
This shift is due to a longer adoption cycle for institutional investors, he noted. “It wasn's not like a flip-the-switch situation.”
The interest in Bitcoin is also returning as broader macroeconomic concerns come to the fore. Last week, Jay Jacobs, BlackRock’s U.S. Head of Thematics and Active Equity ETFs, explained the uptick in simple terms: “Bitcoin thrives when you have more uncertainty.”
In times of market distress or geopolitical instability, investors tend to seek assets not tied to the risks of any one country or central bank — a role Bitcoin is increasingly seen to fulfill. This sentiment echoes long-standing views from BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, who has repeatedly suggested that Bitcoin offers investors a modern safe haven.
During the panel, Mitchnick also challenged the narrative of Bitcoin acting as a leveraged proxy for tech stocks. “It doesn’t make any fundamental sense,” he said, though he acknowledged that such narratives can become “self-filling prophecies” if repeated often enough.
Addressing questions about altcoin ETFs and possible regulatory changes under new SEC leadership, Mitchnick maintained a cautious tone. “Those who think ‘everything goes’ will be disappointed,” he said, adding that while frameworks may evolve, they could also introduce new limitations. For now, Bitcoin remains the dominant asset of interest.
“The interest is still overwhelmingly Bitcoin,” Mitchnick concluded.
