Bitcoin's future as revolutionary as the smartphone, according to CoinDesk
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CoinDesk's president of indices and data has a message for investors: Don't count out bitcoin.
"When I got my first smartphone, which is a great example of a disruptive technology that has been incorporated into my life, I didn't get the smartphone and say, 'This thing is garbage because I can't get a taxi in front of my home whenever I want it.' I was very excited that I didn't have to carry an MP3 player and my cellphone at the same time," David LaValle told CNBC's "ETF Edge" on Monday.
LaValle's call comes during a rough time for bitcoin. The cryptocurrency is off almost 2% over the shortened holiday week. Plus, bitcoin is down almost 50% since its all-time high of $126,279 hit on Oct. 6, 2025, as of Thursday's close.
Bitcoin crossed over the key level of $65,000 on Monday, but by Thursday it dipped back into the $63,000 range.
Despite the losses, LaValle thinks the downturn, which is often referred to as a "crypto winter," won't permanently discourage institutional and retail investors from boosting exposure to the asset.
"As it pertains to the future of the digital asset, a lot has transpired, and there have been downdrafts over the past eight years," he said. "Unlike previous crypto winters, this is like, 'Hey, when do I get back in as opposed to whether or not there's a future.' We look at this as a point of credibility."
TMX VettaFi's head of research and editorial, Todd Rosenbluth, sees a promising trend among bitcoin ETF investors. He finds they're largely holding onto them despite the ongoing market uncertainty, which is a sign of optimism.
The iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) "actually just crossed into the net outflows, despite bitcoin itself having been down for much of the year," Rosenbluth said in the same interview. "So, people were still holding on, and in fact buying IBIT through the initial downdraft. That's encouraging to me that people were holding on."
He pointed to a VettaFi survey of 104 financial advisors in early May. According to Rosenbluth, it revealed where the firm's clients stand on digital assets. It showed almost half of them were watching the stock from the sidelines while just 22% were actively investing or building.
"A [crypto] pullback has created a buying opportunity for some people. Others, it might reinforce that they don't want to be near it when something sells off too strongly," Rosenbluth said. "But I do think we're going to see continued evolution of the demand."
Meanwhile, the losses have been impacting some of the largest bitcoin ETFs, which includes the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF and Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF (GBTC). They've fallen 40% over the past 52 weeks.
