Ran Neuner (란 노이너), regarded as a leading commentator in the cryptocurrency market, has publicly raised concerns that Bitcoin’s (BTC) core narrative itself is wobbling.

Cointelegraph, a blockchain outlet, reported on March 30 that Neuner said in an interview it was difficult to clearly answer the question of why people should buy Bitcoin. He said Bitcoin started as a peer-to-peer currency and was later repositioned as a store of value as “digital gold”, but is now in a state that is hard to explain by any definition. He cited Bitcoin’s failure in the recent market cycle to move like traditional safe-haven assets such as gold, saying the digital-gold narrative is diverging from reality.

He said this sense of a problem goes beyond a conceptual debate and leads to risk across the broader market. Neuner warned that investors are still focused on predicting prices or the direction of gains and losses, but that such an approach could be risky in the current environment. He stressed that setting data-based hypotheses and portfolio defence strategies have become more important.

The interview naturally expanded to macroeconomic variables. Neuner cited geopolitical tensions, especially the Iran war, oil prices and inflation as factors that are actually moving markets. “More important than provocative news headlines is the flow of money,” he said, explaining that markets’ essential direction ultimately shows through where capital moves. This is interpreted as meaning that liquidity flows should be tracked rather than reacting to short-term news.

Neuner also pointed to artificial intelligence (AI) as the next growth driver for the cryptocurrency market. He said if an environment becomes reality in which AI agents execute trades on their own and handle payments, crypto infrastructure could become the foundation of a new digital economy. It reflects a view that crypto’s role could be redefined beyond a simple investment asset to core infrastructure for an automated digital economic system.

He did not present a clear conclusion on Bitcoin’s value, instead stressing that the lack of clarity itself is the market’s key risk. “The biggest problem I am experiencing now is justifying to myself what Bitcoin is and where it gets its value,” Neuner said, voicing the difficulty of making an investment decision.

His remarks question the conventional wisdom that Bitcoin has established itself as “digital gold” and suggest the need to shift the investment frame. The message is to move away from a price-forecast-centred approach and shift focus to data, liquidity and risk management. At the same time, how a new demand narrative combined with AI will take concrete shape in the market is also emerging as a key point to watch going forward.