BlackRock Digital Asset Head: Leverage-driven volatility is threatening the Bitcoin narrative

MarsBitNews · 2026-02-15T14:16:43+00:00

BlackRock's Digital Asset Chief Robert Mitchnick stated at the conference that leveraged speculation in the crypto derivatives market has intensified Bitcoin's volatility, potentially affecting its status as a stable hedging tool. Although Bitcoin's fundamentals remain strong, short-term behavior shows characteristics of a "leveraged Nasdaq," raising the investment threshold for conservative institutions. Additionally, he refuted the view that spot ETFs exacerbate market volatility, emphasizing that redemptions of BlackRock's funds are stable.

MarsBitNews

2026-02-15 14:16:43

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Mars Finance reports that, according to market sources, Robert Mitchnick, Head of Digital Assets at BlackRock, stated at the Bitcoin Investor Week conference that rampant leverage speculation on crypto derivatives platforms is intensifying market volatility and could undermine Bitcoin’s long-term positioning as a stable institutional hedge. Mitchnick pointed out that Bitcoin’s fundamentals as a “global, scarce, decentralized monetary asset” remain solid, but its short-term trading behavior is increasingly exhibiting characteristics of a “leveraged Nasdaq,” which will significantly raise the threshold for conservative institutional investors to allocate to this asset. Mitchnick also countered the view that spot ETFs are exacerbating market volatility. He said that during a turbulent week, BlackRock’s IBIT fund saw only a 0.2% redemption, and if hedge funds had large-scale liquidations, there should have been tens of billions of dollars in outflows, but in reality, tens of billions of dollars in liquidations occurred on leveraged platforms.

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