An analysis said institutional investors are shifting their approach to bitcoin from simply holding spot positions to more complex capital markets strategies that use equities, preferred shares, bonds and yield products. It said investing by combining bitcoin with various financial products is spreading beyond holding it as an asset.

Bitcoin Magazine reported on Oct. 5 that TD Cowen managing director Lance Vitanza (랜스 비탄자) recently said institutional investor interest is changing at the 'Bitcoin Treasuries Conference', an event on bitcoin treasury strategy.

Vitanza said a key change is that institutions are asking different questions. He said the focus used to be "whether to hold bitcoin", but now it is "how to hold it". He was reported as saying institutions are reviewing not only spot bitcoin but also common and preferred shares of bitcoin-related companies, bonds and dividend-like products.

As a result, investment criteria for bitcoin are also changing. It said investors should assess not only whether bitcoin's price will rise, but also financing structures, ability to defend profits and loss, and companies' operational foundations.

It also said gaps could widen among companies that use bitcoin treasury strategies during market downturns. Vitanza cited Strive, Metaplanet and Nakamoto as examples and said companies with separate operating businesses could be relatively better positioned during market slumps.

It said a company's competitiveness is not determined only by the fact that it holds bitcoin. The point is that business foundations and financing capabilities that allow it to endure price declines are important.

Index inclusion was also cited as a variable. Vitanza reviewed potential impacts if bitcoin treasury strategy companies are excluded from MSCI indexes. He said companies' capital structures and financing capabilities are more important factors in determining long-term competitiveness than index inclusion itself.

Issues around market trust were also mentioned. He said concerns about market order, including blockchain transaction surveillance and front-running, also need to be addressed for bitcoin's price to become established as a major asset for institutional investors. That is because trust in how prices are formed could become more important as institutional money grows.

For his bitcoin price outlook, $132,000 was cited for 2027. Vitanza also said bitcoin treasury strategy companies with strong operations could potentially outperform bitcoin's own returns.

In that view, companies such as Strategy are hard to see solely as a "bitcoin proxy investment vehicle". That is because investors must comprehensively evaluate not only bitcoin holdings but also financing methods such as preferred shares and bonds, operating businesses and resilience in downturns.

Ultimately, institutions' bitcoin investment strategies are shifting from "whether to buy bitcoin" to "how to use bitcoin within a financial structure". It said that in the future bitcoin market, not only spot prices but also related companies' ability to raise capital, product design and the stability of operating businesses are expected to emerge as new investment criteria.