BlackRock executive: Clients invest in Bitcoin primarily for "digital gold" considerations, not for global payment scenarios.

According to Cointelegraph, Robbie Mitchnick, head of BlackRock's digital assets division, stated that most clients of the world's largest asset management firm do not consider the widespread use of Bitcoin in everyday payments when deciding whether to invest. In a podcast interview released Friday, Mitchnick said, "I think for us, and for most of our clients today, they're not really investing in it as a case study of a global payments network." He described the possibility of Bitcoin being widely used for everyday payments in the future as "potentially an out-of-the-money option-value upside." Mitchnick emphasized that this doesn't mean Bitcoin will ultimately fail to achieve widespread payment use, but he called that scenario "more speculative," highlighting that investors are currently more focused on arguments for Bitcoin as "digital gold" or a store of value. He believes that for this shift in payment scenarios to materialize, "a lot needs to happen," including advancements in technologies such as Bitcoin scaling and Lightning.