According to BlackRock’s head of digital assets, Robbie Mitchnick, the firm’s clients are overwhelmingly focused on Bitcoin’s role as a store of value, not its potential as a global payment network. He explained that investors are not currently factoring in the possibility of using Bitcoin for daily transactions when making their allocation decisions.

During a recent podcast interview, Mitchnick described the global payments use case as a “sort of maybe out-of-the-money-option-value upside.” While he didn’t rule out that Bitcoin could one day achieve widespread use in payments, he labeled that scenario as “a little bit more speculative” compared to its established “digital gold” thesis.

Mitchnick stressed that significant technological advancements would be required for this to change. “There’s a lot that needs to happen in terms of Bitcoin scaling, Lightning, and otherwise to make that possible,” he added.

Stablecoins Emerge as the Payment Solution

The sentiment that other digital assets are better suited for payments is shared by prominent investors like ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood. She recently noted that the rapid scaling of stablecoins is a key reason for lowering her 2030 price prediction for Bitcoin.

“Stablecoins are usurping part of the role that we thought that Bitcoin would play,” Wood stated. She explained that while she previously projected Bitcoin could reach $1.5 million by 2030, the growing dominance of stablecoins in transactions prompted her to trim that forecast by approximately $300,000.

Wood sees this trend as particularly impactful in developing nations, saying, “I think emerging markets are huge in this regard.” This view is echoed by industry pioneers like Tether co-founder Reeve Collins, who predicted in September that nearly “all currency” will become stablecoins by 2030 as finance continues to move on-chain.