Bitcoin as 'digital gold' could enable continued demand as ETFs mitigate volatility

Hawkish views on the potential for U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate cuts have bolstered gold among traditional investors — a fact that may lead to more demand for bitcoin, in Coinbase's opinion.

"In our view, bitcoin's increased acceptance as a form of "digital gold" could enable demand from a new subset of investors in this market regime," David Han, an institutional research analyst at the crypto exchange, wrote in a report published yesterday.

"As a result, we think dips are likely to be more aggressively bought compared to previous cycles, even as volatility persists during price discovery," he added.

Han also noted that bitcoin price volatility could be mitigated by the recent launch of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds in the United States — and the broader access to capital they bring to the table.

"In our view, the capital unlocked by the ETFs perhaps represents the most fundamental shift in market structure between the previous 2020-2021 cycle and today," Han wrote, adding: "These capital unlocks, coupled with the upcoming Bitcoin BTC +0.95% halving (estimated to occur on April 20-21 subject to variations in network hash rate) and other positive catalysts, make us still largely constructive in our view throughout Q2."

Han and fellow Coinbase analyst David Duong said earlier this week that the bitcoin halving could already be priced in by savvy traders, though collective belief in a halving-related price rally could still result in such a result.

The Bitcoin halving is scheduled to occur in approximately 14 days, according to The Block's Bitcoin Halving Countdown .