Cathie Wood (캐시 우드), CEO of Ark Invest, described bitcoin as an asset distinct from artificial intelligence investing and stressed it can serve as an "insurance" role against national currency risks.

On June 27 (local time), blockchain media outlet Cryptopolitan reported Wood wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that if capital outflows increase in unstable countries, bitcoin and other digital assets could catch fire again.

Wood acknowledged that AI is absorbing attention in investment markets. He said AI has sparked a technology revolution and has deservedly taken a significant amount of oxygen from the investment world, but AI cannot replace the insurance role provided by bitcoin.

This view also aligns with concerns recently raised among institutional investors. Robbie Mitchnick (로비 미트치닉), head of digital assets at BlackRock, said bitcoin's weakness since October last year is not a problem unique to crypto. He pointed out that bitcoin and the broader crypto market have faced a tough stretch, but that resembles a trend seen across nearly all asset classes except AI-focused assets. He also said the AI boom is sucking oxygen out of the market.

Actual market moves also align with those remarks. Bitcoin slid to $59,000 and is down more than 50 percent from an all-time high above $125,000 recorded in October last year. Spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds have posted net outflows for more than 45 trading sessions, totaling $7.8 billion. Over the same period, AI-related semiconductor stocks such as Nvidia, AMD, Broadcom and Marvell have outperformed bitcoin in returns since the start of the year.

Bitcoin mining companies are also shifting weight toward AI infrastructure. The bitcoin network hashrate fell to about 0.888 zettahash per second from a peak of 1.151 zettahash per second in October 2025. A report released at the end of March said the share of AI infrastructure in revenue at listed mining companies could rise to as much as 70 percent by the end of 2026. That would be more than double about 30 percent at the start of the year.

Fidelity Digital Assets called the shift a "structural reshuffle" in a midterm review report. It said miners are redirecting power and infrastructure to AI data center work that can offer higher profitability. The 30-day average hashrate and mining difficulty also fell about 8 to 9 percent from prior peaks before partially recovering. Galaxy Research said the bitcoin difficulty adjustment carried out on June 14 was the 11th-largest downward adjustment in the network's history.

Still, institutions say the investment rationale for bitcoin has not been completely damaged. Mitchnick said U.S. government debt and fiscal deficits could become the most important fundamental driver of bitcoin going forward. He said the issue could re-emerge around the 2026 U.S. midterm elections. BlackRock also proposed on June 23 a plan to allocate 1 to 2 percent of a portfolio to bitcoin, describing it as a complementary diversifying asset.

Matt Hougan (맷 호건), chief investment officer at Bitwise, also recently described crypto as a contrarian investment. He said crypto could look less attractive in a market where institutional money has moved to AI stocks, robotics companies and SpaceX, and where the Nasdaq 100 is up 43 percent from a year earlier. He added that if crypto is no longer a momentum trade, fundamentals become important, and current capital rotation shows that change has already begun.

Ultimately, the key question is whether AI will continue to monopolise profit opportunities in the market, or whether currency instability and fiscal concerns will lift bitcoin demand again. Wood said if more money leaves weak currencies, or if U.S. fiscal policy increases inflation concerns, it will become harder for investors to ignore bitcoin's role as a non-sovereign store of value.

Capital outflows from less stable countries around the world will light another fire under bitcoin and other digital assets. AI has launched a technology revolution, deservedly sucking a lot of oxygen out of the investment world, but it cannot serve as the insurance policy… https://t.co/Xmtt1DnroX