BITCOIN FIRST: Why investors need to consider bitcoin separately from other digital assets
Published on February 8, 2022
Fidelity Digital Assets : Chris Kuiper, CFA, Director of Research & Jack Neureuter, Research Analyst – January 2022
Once investors have decided to invest in digital assets, the next question becomes, “Which one?” Of course, bitcoin is the most recognized, first-ever digital asset, but there are hundreds and even thousands of other digital assets in the ecosystem.
One of the first concerns investors have regarding bitcoin is as the first digital asset it may be
vulnerable to innovative destruction from competitors (such as the story of MySpace and Facebook). Another common consideration surrounding bitcoin is whether it offers the same potential reward or upside as some of the newer and smaller digital assets that have emerged.
In this paper, Fidelity Digital Assets proposes:
- Bitcoin is best understood as a monetary good, and one of the primary investment theses for bitcoin is as the store of value asset in an increasingly digital world.
- Bitcoin is fundamentally different from any other digital asset. No other digital asset is likely to
- improve upon bitcoin as a monetary good because bitcoin is the most (relative to other digital assets) secure, decentralized, sound digital money and any “improvement” will necessarily face tradeoffs.
- There is not necessarily mutual exclusivity between the success of the Bitcoin network and all other digital asset networks. Rather, the rest of the digital asset ecosystem can fulfill different needs or solve other problems that bitcoin simply does not.
- Other non-bitcoin projects should be evaluated from a different perspective than bitcoin.
- Bitcoin should be considered an entry point for traditional allocators looking to gain exposure to digital assets.
Read the full report here.
This report was prepared by Fidelity Digital Assets and is not financial advice given by Vault Digital Funds.
