- Bitwise predicts institutions will invest roughly $300 billion in Bitcoin in 2026.
- Public treasury companies and countries will also invest more aggressively.
An emerging batch of heavyweight investors will push Bitcoin investment into overdrive, say Bitwise analysts.
They point to three key drivers: Institutions, publicly traded companies opting to invest in Bitcoin, and countries seeking alternatives to gold.
Simultaneously, politicians are pushing crypto-friendly legislation through the halls of Capitol Hill.
The result?
That institutional Bitcoin investments will balloon to roughly $120 billion by the end of 2025, and will surge to more than $300 billion by the end of 2026, according to Bitwise.
The demographic of Bitcoin investors since the arrival of the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds in 2024 has shifted dramatically.
Instead of just retail investors scooping up cryptocurrencies on crypto exchanges, sophisticated asset managers are also piling in.
In May, the total amount invested across various spot crypto ETFs, including Bitcoin, hit an all-time high of almost $188 billion, according to CoinShares.
This trend will continue as new varieties of funds that combine traditional financial assets with crypto hit the market, said Bitwise.
Bitcoin companies on the rise
These funds also enable larger wealth management platforms, such as JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs, to allocate portions of their trillion-dollar portfolios into the asset.
Bitwise predicts these organisations will invest anywhere from $60 billion to $600 billion in Bitcoin, depending on client allocation.
Publicly traded companies have also begun to scoop up Bitcoin, a trend Bitwise says will accelerate.
Since Strategy began adding cryptocurrency to its balance sheet in 2020, more than 100 different companies around the world have followed suit, according to public data.
At 576,230 Bitcoin, Strategy boasts the largest corporate treasury in the world.
It’s also opened the door to alternative models, such as that of the recent Tether, SoftBank, and Bitfinex venture called Twenty One.
The company announced its launch in April with a 42,000 Bitcoin investment and is now the third-largest company holding Bitcoin. It also denotes all of its internal performance metrics in Bitcoin terms.
Copycats have also piled into altcoins, such as Solana and US President Donald Trump’s memecoin.
Likewise, Bitwise analysts argue that countries will allocate to Bitcoin in the same way that they have previously invested in gold.
If 1% of the gold held by nation states is converted to Bitcoin — Bitwise’s bullish scenario — that will lead to more than $32 billion in investment.
‘Turbocharge’ Bitcoin investment
Finally, pro-crypto bills on state and federal levels will turn states in the US into aggressive buyers of Bitcoin.
Should nine of the 13 active state-level bills pass, Bitwise expects that to generate more than $45 billion in investment.
All of these drivers in tandem are expected to “turbocharge” Bitcoin investment, said Bitwise.
Liam Kellyis DL News’ Berlin-based DeFi correspondent. Have a tip? Get in touch atliam@dlnews.com.
