BlackRock’s head of digital assets, Robbie Mitchnick, said in a Bloomberg interview that bitcoin should be viewed as a risk-off asset, even though it has recently traded in a pattern similar to U.S. equities. His comments add fresh weight to the long-running debate over whether bitcoin behaves more like a speculative asset or a defensive store of value.
Mitchnick argued that short-term correlation alone should not define bitcoin’s role in portfolios. He drew a comparison with gold, noting that both assets can go through temporary periods of moving with broader markets, while their long-term correlation with other asset classes tends to be close to zero. In his view, bitcoin’s decentralized structure and fixed supply are central features that distinguish it from conventional risk-on assets and support the case for treating it as risk-off.
Bitcoin and Ether Are Following Different Narratives
On market performance, Mitchnick noted that bitcoin is up 49% this year, while ether has gained 15%. He said part of that divergence reflects the impact of spot ETF approvals earlier in the year, but it also highlights a difference in how institutions currently understand the two assets. Bitcoin is more widely framed as a store of value or “digital gold,” while ether’s investment thesis is still evolving and remains tied more closely to adoption of applications built on Ethereum.
That distinction matters for institutional positioning. Mitchnick suggested ether has not yet achieved the same perception of stability among large investors that bitcoin currently enjoys, reinforcing a widening separation in how BTC and ETH are categorized in professional portfolios.
IBIT Growth Reflects BlackRock’s Expanding Bitcoin Push
BlackRock’s growing commitment to bitcoin is also visible in the performance of its spot bitcoin ETF. Launched in January, the Ishares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) quickly became the world’s largest bitcoin ETF. At the same time, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink has notably shifted his tone on bitcoin, describing it as digital gold and a legitimate financial instrument.
Taken together, the remarks suggest that major asset managers are increasingly evaluating bitcoin through a longer-term allocation framework rather than only through short-term trading behavior. For the broader market, BlackRock’s stance may further strengthen the case for bitcoin as a distinct asset class within institutional portfolios.