An assessment said investors’ perception of bitcoin is changing as it has recently lowered its correlation with the stock market, especially AI-related shares.

On Aug. 11 local time, blockchain outlet CoinPost reported that Robert Mitchnick (로버트 미치닉), head of digital assets at BlackRock, appeared on Bloomberg and said investment sentiment around bitcoin has been shifting over the past month in a way that is not striking but is clear.

Mitchnick said the weakening linkage with equities was not sudden. Earlier this year, bitcoin was flat or weaker while AI-related stocks kept rising, and that gap worked against bitcoin, he said. But the trend changed in July. Bitcoin maintained a relatively solid performance even during a stretch when AI-related stocks plunged, and he called the easing of that correlation “healthy.”

BlackRock pointed to a changing role for bitcoin behind the trend. Mitchnick said investors are starting to see bitcoin not simply as a risk asset but as a diversification tool, and as an asset to prepare for tail risks in other portfolio holdings. That means its role as an asset-allocation instrument is becoming more prominent than the direction of its price itself.

Actual fund flows also supported the shift. U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs recorded total inflows of $853.5 million over the last five trading sessions, marking the biggest weekly inflow since mid-April. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust IBIT accounted for more than 80 percent of the total with $693.7 million. Fidelity’s FBTC followed with $116.4 million.

The market is also citing a recent hacking incident as part of the backdrop to the fund moves. Reports that more than $100 million was stolen in a hack targeting cold storage, an offline storage device, have led to observations that some investors who held assets directly are moving funds to ETFs through brokerages. That is, demand to reduce self-custody risk could translate into ETF inflows.

A view also emerged that ETF investors tend to be long-term holders. Mitchnick said, “Consistently, the core is long-term holders based on fundamental judgment.” He also noted that bitcoin has gone through five bull and bear market cycles so far, and each time ended above the previous peak.

The trend shows that the framework for explaining the bitcoin market is shifting from simple co-movement with equities to asset allocation and the structure of supply and demand. With inflows via ETFs continuing, whether bitcoin can sustain movements that differ from risk assets is emerging as the next point to watch.