The Dawn of Bitcoin as a Mainstream Asset Class
Insights from Consensus 2025: Bitcoin's Journey to Institutional Recognition
At the recent Consensus 2025 conference, leading asset managers discussed the imminent recognition of Bitcoin as a legitimate asset class. While significant progress has been made, institutional acceptance still depends on education, infrastructure, and market maturity.
Bitcoin's Path to Institutional Acceptance
Anthony Scaramucci, founder and CEO of SkyBridge Capital, highlighted a critical benchmark for Bitcoin's recognition as an asset class: a market capitalization of $20 trillion. "Three trillion is like a mag 7 stock, 20 trillion is an asset class,” Scaramucci stated. “So if you tell me that bitcoin can get to $500,000, people will be writing stories that bitcoin is an asset class.”
This bold prediction set the stage for a lively discussion at CoinDesk’s Consensus 2025 conference, where Scaramucci was joined by Jonathan Steinberg, CEO of WisdomTree; Pasqual St-Jean, President and CEO of 3iQ; and Andy Baehr of CoinDesk Indices. The panel explored whether crypto, particularly Bitcoin, has finally achieved the status of a bona fide asset class.
Bitcoin Leads the Way
Pasqual St-Jean argued that Bitcoin has already met many of the criteria that traditional assets must satisfy to be considered investable by institutions, similar to gold. “It has hedging mechanisms. It has different wrappers. It's a little bit easier to understand. It's a digital gold for a digital age,” he added.
This accessibility contrasts with other types of crypto assets, such as governance and utility tokens, which remain more challenging for institutional allocators to comprehend. "When we talk about governance tokens, it's a little harder for institutions to wrap their minds around,” St-Jean said. “What exactly am I owning?”
The Impact of Bitcoin ETFs
The panelists highlighted the introduction of spot Bitcoin ETFs, particularly in the U.S., as a pivotal moment in crypto’s journey toward institutional legitimacy. Jonathan Steinberg, CEO of WisdomTree, noted the irony in how former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler’s enforcement-heavy approach inadvertently laid the groundwork for a highly competitive and mature market.
"Gensler created just what he didn't want in the US,” Steinberg said. “There are more bitcoin ETPs than S&P 500 ETFs. He created a tremendously competitive and mature foundation for bitcoin, which I think is deserved for the asset class.”
St-Jean agreed, calling the ETF wrapper a "game changer," particularly for Bitcoin. It allowed legal and compliance departments to treat it as a regular investment decision, opening the door to more widespread adoption among institutions.
Education and Diversification Are Key
Despite the progress, Andy Baehr warned that Bitcoin’s dominance might be holding back the broader crypto ecosystem. "The crypto asset class is a bit hamstrung by the fact that there's this giant singular thing standing there that people have to understand first,” Baehr said. “Yet you miss out on real blockchain technology, Layer 1s, infrastructure, DeFi—if you don't dig deeper.”
He likened the current moment to 1999, when online brokerages made tech stocks accessible to a wider investor base. Like then, liquidity vehicles such as ETFs could help create allocation engines for the crypto space, turning short-term trading into long-term investing.
Still, the panelists were realistic about the growing pains. Steinberg pointed out that many institutions are still early in their due diligence. While some hedge funds have made the leap, most large allocators are still getting educated.
The Road Ahead
Panelists emphasized that the final push toward broad asset-class acceptance will likely depend on continued infrastructure development, regulatory clarity, and institutional products. "We had to educate them that the regulator doesn't have the right to pick which asset class is investable if the infrastructure problem is solved,” St-Jean said.
Looking forward, he argued that staking products, Layer 1 blockchain investments, and more diversified index products will be critical. "You just own HTTP,” he said, drawing a parallel to early internet protocols. “Bitcoin they understand, now they’re starting to understand Layer 1s.”
Scaramucci remains bullish. "We may not actually be bullish enough,” he said, citing the explosion of capital in the space, the wave of copycat strategies following Strategy’s lead, and Wall Street’s “selling machine” now pushing Bitcoin and crypto ETFs.
He added that while political risks remain, particularly with crypto becoming a hot-button issue in U.S. politics, the incentives are lining up for bipartisan support. "If you get Bitcoin to $500,000, people won’t just say it’s an asset class—they’ll treat it like one,” he said.
Conclusion
Whether or not Bitcoin reaches the $500,000 price target, the panel agreed that the foundation is there, the wrappers are in place, and institutions are finally showing up. Crypto’s transformation from curiosity to asset class is no longer a question of “if”—just “when.”