An assessment said bitcoin is moving beyond being a speculative target for retail investors and is becoming a financial asset used by institutional investors and companies.

On Oct. 22, Bitcoin Magazine reported that Allen Helm (앨런 헬름), co-founder of Bitcoin for Corporations, said a view is spreading in banking circles he engages with that bitcoin is no longer seen as a speculative asset.

Helm said financial institutions are using bitcoin not simply as a trading target but as a base asset for designing digital credit products and securities. He said bitcoin is moving away from the periphery of financial markets and becoming an asset reviewed by corporate boards and treasury departments.

He also pointed to differences in how institutions and retail investors approach it. Helm stressed that institutions are not repeating the investment approach seen in 2017. He said institutions assess bitcoin not only through price volatility of a single asset, but from the perspective of portfolios and capital structures.

He also noted record inflows into BlackRock's bitcoin exchange-traded fund. Helm said the inflows offer clues about who is buying bitcoin. He said demand is expanding beyond retail investors to inflows through regulated financial products.

A shift in banks' perceptions was also cited as a key factor. Helm referred to a JPMorgan report and said a trend is emerging of viewing bitcoin as an asset rather than a speculative one. He said the change is leading financial institutions to examine products using bitcoin and asset-allocation strategies.

Companies' bitcoin-holding strategies are also under discussion. Helm cited SpaceX and Tesla and said it is necessary to examine standards for classifying a company as a bitcoin treasury-holding firm. He also treated as key issues the moves of companies that place bitcoin at the center of their treasury strategies, including Strategy, Strive and Metaplanet, and the possibility of consolidation among related companies.

The possibility of these companies moving into the U.S. market was also discussed. Helm spoke to the effect that "capital moves the way capital wants," and he stressed the trend of connection and integration in global capital markets.

The core of the discussion is that the center of gravity in the market around bitcoin is shifting from retail investors to institutional capital and corporate treasury strategies. The assessment said bitcoin's range of use is expanding into regulated finance as ETF inflows, banks' changing perceptions and corporate bitcoin-holding strategies intersect.