Retail investors are running out of time to accumulate Bitcoin as institutional adoption accelerates, according to Sergej Kunz, co-founder of exchange aggregator 1inch.

Bitcoin ( BTC ) is evolving into an alternative reserve currency, propelling institutional demand and potentially pricing out retail investors, Kunz said during Cointelegraph's LONGITUDE event in Dubai. 

"Every retail user should be thinking about getting at least one Bitcoin — very soon they won’t be able to afford it,” Kunz said. 

If the United States starts buying Bitcoin for a strategic reserve, even smaller countries may soon struggle to acquire the cryptocurrency, he added. "I’m pretty sure we’ll soon see countries battling over who owns more Bitcoin. The US will start.”

Bitcoin demand has accelerated since US President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs on US imports in April, setting off a global trade war.

“The only thing that still acts as a true hedge — across borders, against inflation — is Bitcoin,” Animoca Brands co-founder Yat Siu said during the panel. 

Institutional Bitcoin buying may soon price out retail — LONGITUDE panel image 0 Yat Siu (middle) and Sergej Kunz (right) with Cointelegraph's Gareth Jenkinson at LONGITUDE. Source: Cointelegraph

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Global reserve asset?

During the week of April 21-25, Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) attracted more than $3 billion in inflows as institutions sought safety in “digital gold” amid mounting macroeconomic uncertainty. 

Analysts say demand from financial institutions could push Bitcoin’s price as high as $200,000 per coin this year. By 2029, institutional Bitcoin adoption could propel the cryptocurrency’s price past $1 million, Bitwise’s head of European research, André Dragosch, said.

Institutional Bitcoin buying may soon price out retail — LONGITUDE panel image 1 Asset managers still prefer gold for hedging against macro risk. Source:  Binance Research

For Bitcoin, “[t]he silver lining is that economic uncertainty has historically accelerated institutional interest in digital assets as a diversification strategy,” David Siemer, co-founder and CEO of Wave Digital Assets, told Cointelegraph .

As of May 1, Bitcoin ETFs and other institutional funds hold upward of $128 billion worth of BTC, according to data from BitcoinTreasuries.NET. Corporate treasuries hold another roughly $73 billion, data shows. 

Sovereign states — including the US, China, and the United Kingdom — collectively hold more than $130 billion worth of BTC. However, much of those holdings are from crypto assets seized by law enforcement, not outright Bitcoin buys. 

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