From Fringe to Finance: Bitcoin’s Transition into a Mainstream Investment Vehicle Part I

By
Cheng Yan
December 5, 2025

For over a century, history has repeatedly rewarded those who recognized transformative assets before they went mainstream, whether it was buying farmland during the Industrial Revolution, snapping up shares of fledgling railroads, investing in U.S. equities after the Great Depression, or getting into tech stocks before the internet boom. Each of these opportunities began on the fringes: misunderstood, dismissed, or deemed too risky by the establishment, until undeniable utility, institutional validation, and mass adoption turned early conviction into generational wealth.

Today, Bitcoin stands at that same inflection point. Once written off as digital noise, it has now cleared the highest barriers to legitimacy: enshrined in corporate balance sheets, backed by regulated ETFs, secured by trillions in global hash power, and increasingly viewed as “digital gold” in an era of currency debasement and geopolitical uncertainty. The infrastructure is built, the gatekeepers have opened the doors, and the world’s smartest capital is moving in. Just like those once-in-a-century opportunities of the past, Bitcoin isn’t just another asset, it’s the next great leap in how humanity stores and transfers value. And the window to participate before it becomes universally obvious is narrowing fast.

BTC (2025):  Stage 8 → Institutional Adoption / Late Early-Majority Adoption. Heading toward Stage 9 (Network Effects → mainstream stability)

Stage Market Data Shows Milestones Time
1. Innovation
  • No exchanges; OTC trades on forums
  • Price ~$0.003 → $10
  • Spreads extremely wide
  • Near-zero liquidity
  • Whitepaper released (2008)
  • Genesis block mined (2009)
2009-2012
2. Early Adoption
  • First real exchanges (Mt. Gox)
  • Volume increases 100×
  • Price rises to ~$1,000
  • High volatility but early trend structure appears
  • Cypherpunks
  • Early miners
  • Lbertarians
2012–2016
3. Proof of Value
  • Volatility decreases vs prior cycles
  • Derivatives begin (CME futures)
  • Market cap surpasses $100B
  • Liquidity deepens
  • Survived multiple hacks & forks
  • Scaling debates resolved with SegWit
  • Institutions begin academic research
2016–2020
4. Infrastructure
  • Explosion in:
  • ETFs begin filing attempts
  • Massive growth in stablecoins → BTC liquidity improves
Fidelity, BlackRock, CME, Coinbase prime brokers 2020–2024
5. Regulation
  • 2024 U.S. BTC Spot ETF approval → massive structural regime shift
  • Volatility regime change
  • Record inflows (billions per week)
  • BTC becomes "investable" for pensions & funds
Legal clarity triggers flows 2023–2024
6. Distribution
  • Spot BTC ETFs on:
    • BlackRock
    • Fidelity
    • ARK/21Shares
  • BTC now:
    • in retirement accounts
    • purchasable through Vanguard/Schwab
    • increasingly integrated into fintech
  • Brokerage adoption → new retail wave
  • Google Trends rising
  • Stable inflows into ETFs
  • Increase in social mentions
2024–2025
7. Social Proof
  • Media coverage normalizes BTC/li>
  • Narrative becomes
    • "digital gold
    • "macro hedge"
    • "sovereign asset"
  • Price rallies beyond ATH due to sentiment + structural flows
Sentiment-driven moves Ongoing
8. Institutional
  • Tens of billions in ETF inflows
  • Daily liquidity rivaling mega-cap equities
  • Major banks offering custody indirectly.
  • BTC in strategic long-term allocations.
  • Derivative markets deep and stable
  • Block trades with minimal slippage
Big players commit 2024–2025
9. Network Effects Durable trend Pullbacks bought
10. Mainstream Index inclusion Steady, low-vol

To be continued…