Bitcoin (BTC) Is in the Next Phase of Its Natural Evolution, Says Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan

The CIO of crypto asset management firm Bitwise says Bitcoin (BTC) is going through the next phase of its natural evolution.

In a new Crypto Prime interview, Matt Hougan explains a key difference between the current Bitcoin bull market and the one heating up in 2020.

According to Hougan, the current market cycle is being driven by major institutions as they lay the groundwork for the king crypto to evolve into a trusted store of value.

"The Bitcoin of today really is different than the Bitcoin of five years ago. That was a Bitcoin driven by retail investors and crypto-native investors. This is increasingly a Bitcoin driven by institutions, corporations, governments and macro hedge funds.

And you're seeing it behave differently. You're seeing it behave more like a hedge asset. I think it's maturing before our eyes. Bitcoin's a teenager. It's 15 years old. It's in a transition phase from a risk asset to a hedge asset. But I think that's the direction of travel. I think you're going to see it act like that more and more in the future.

And as it does, it's going to bring more investors into it because it's a really useful tool in the macro quiver."