BlackRock Digital Asset Director: Bitcoin is wrongly labeled as a "risk asset" and is actually a safe haven

Robbie Mitchnick, BlackRock’s head of digital assets, said in an interview today that Bitcoin has been wrongly labeled a “risk-appetite” asset. “Some crypto research publications and daily commentaries have accepted this fact that Bitcoin It's clearly a risk-on asset and should be traded like stocks. But fundamentally, Bitcoin's long-term drivers are very different from what drives stocks and other so-called risk assets, and in some cases, Bitcoin's long-term drivers are very different. They may actually even be opposites." Risk assets generally refer to assets that maximize returns under favorable economic conditions and include stocks such as technology and growth stocks, certain commodities, and many cryptocurrencies. BlackRock labeled Bitcoin a "unique diversified investment vehicle" in its recently released white paper, highlighting its potential as a hedge against currency and geopolitical risks. Safe-haven assets, on the other hand, are a class of investments that perform well during periods of heightened market uncertainty or economic downturns, such as gold, silver, government bonds, and the U.S. dollar. Mitchnick believes that “stocks, unemployment, payrolls, or manufacturing really have nothing to do with Bitcoin. When we think of Bitcoin, we primarily think of it as an emerging global currency alternative that is scarce. , a global, decentralized, non-sovereign asset, and an asset that has no country-specific risk, no traditional counterparty risk, investors get confused when people think of it as a risk appetite, because according to what I just said. Describing characteristics, you would think of it as risk aversion.” “The reality is that there are probably two or three things that happen every year that actually impact the fundamental value of Bitcoin,” he added. (Cointelegraph)