Foreign media: The CEO of Grayscale Investments, Peter Mintzberg, wrote that the recent rebound in Bitcoin should not be seen merely as a short-term recovery. Compared to price fluctuations, what is more noteworthy are institutional funds, corporate investment in technology, and changes in the regulatory environment, all of which are reshaping the digital asset market.
Behind the rebound of Bitcoin is a change in the capital structure.
The article mentioned that Bitcoin rose by about 20% last week, experiencing one of the strongest three-day gains since 2023. However, he believes that if the market continues to switch its narrative only between "the end of the winter slump" and "the beginning of a rebound," it is still ignoring deeper underlying changes.
The core argument he presented is based on institutional capital flows. In 2025, the daily net inflow or outflow of Bitcoin ETP often exceeded 500 million US dollars, which is approximately 12 times the daily increase in the supply of new Bitcoins produced by miners. The article argues that this indicates that the pricing structure of Bitcoin, which was previously mainly driven by new supply, has been altered by a larger scale of external funds.
During this year's market correction, US-listed spot Bitcoin ETP experienced net outflows for eight consecutive weeks, but then saw net inflows for three consecutive weeks in late July. Although the annual cumulative figure is still net outflow, the article states that the recent pullback has been significantly smaller than the typical 70% to 80% declines seen in previous rounds of the crypto market.
Institutional configuration intentions are still on the rise.
Mintzberg also cited a survey conducted by Ernst & Young in 2026 among over 350 institutional investors, which stated that 73% of the respondents planned to increase their allocation of digital assets. Based on this, he concluded that institutional capital is playing a greater role in determining the marginal price of digital assets.
The article also emphasizes that digital assets should not be equated solely with Bitcoin. Although Bitcoin still accounts for about 60% of the total market value of digital assets, the current forces driving industry expansion come from two main aspects: one is the increasing demand from institutions, and the other is the broader adoption of blockchain technology by enterprises.
Enterprise blockchain and stablecoin projects are advancing.
On the corporate side, the article states that by 2025, approximately 60% of the executives from Fortune 500 companies indicated that their firms are advancing blockchain-related projects. Companies such as Fidelity, Visa, and Stripe are also pursuing stablecoin initiatives.
He believes that such investments are more in the nature of corporate infrastructure construction, rather than experiments driven by short-term market sentiment. Especially in the financial services industry, many institutions are applying digital asset technology to their back-end systems. The article states that such decisions typically have a longer cycle and place more emphasis on the underlying uses, rather than short-term price fluctuations.
AI and blockchain are seen as complementary
The article holds an opposing view on the statement that “AI transactions will squeeze the narrative of digital assets.” Mintzberg believes that artificial intelligence and public blockchains are not in a relationship of substitution, but rather one of complementarity.
The reason he gave is that AI agents may bring about new demands such as machine-native small-value payments and instant cross-border settlements, and blockchain is more suited to undertaking such financial infrastructure functions. At the same time, the issues of control and bias brought about by the development of centralized AI can also be partially alleviated through decentralized solutions and on-chain identity tools.
The article concludes that digital assets are gradually integrating into existing regulatory and governance frameworks, rather than remaining outside of them. As investment committees, corporate governance processes, and compliance frameworks continue to mature, more institutions will regard digital assets as part of their long-term asset allocation, rather than merely high-volatility trading instruments.
