The Maturation of Digital Assets

Mounting evidence across markets, adoption, and policy signals that digital assets appear to be a permanent fixture in mainstream financial discourse. In just over 15 years, Bitcoin has evolved from a fringe technological experiment into one of the world’s most valuable and widely discussed financial assets. The phrase “Bitcoin is dead” has largely vanished from serious commentary. Instead, this skepticism has been increasingly replaced by recognition that digital assets are not only here to stay but are actively reshaping the global financial landscape.¹

The Fidelity Digital Assets® Research team believes that digital assets—led by Bitcoin and Ethereum—have matured into a distinct, investable asset class. Although they may not fit every portfolio, the potential rising opportunity cost of disregarding them should be taken into account. For institutional investors seeking exposure to the future of finance, digital assets warrant thoughtful review.

Market Overview: Legitimacy Through Scale

As of August 31, 2025, Bitcoin ranks as the eighth-largest asset globally by market capitalization, trailing only gold and a handful of mega-cap U.S. technology companies. With a market cap hovering around $2.2 trillion, bitcoin has at times surpassed the likes of Alphabet and silver. 

Ether, while smaller, commands roughly a $500 billion market cap and sits among the top 25 assets worldwide.² To put this in perspective, ether’s value exceeds that of corporate giants like ExxonMobil and is on par with global consumer staples firms. The table below compares these assets against traditional benchmarks.

What is notable is not just the absolute size of these networks, but the speed at which they have reached this scale. Bitcoin’s market cap grew from zero to over $1 trillion in just under 11 years, far faster than many major corporations. In comparison, Apple took approximately 37 years to reach $1 trillion in value, whereas Meta Platforms was the fastest company to break $1 trillion, doing so in just over nine years.³

Few assets in modern history have achieved trillion-dollar status so quickly. This rapid ascent underpins Bitcoin’s maturity and utility across the global financial landscape—an asset cannot attract trillions in value so quickly without meeting a real market need. 

Liquidity in digital assets has surged alongside market cap. Bitcoin’s network settled over $6 trillion in on-chain transactions in 2024.⁴ That annual settlement volume exceeds the GDP of most major economies, underscoring that Bitcoin is actively used at scale. Meanwhile, trading venues both on- and off-chain regularly handle hundreds of billions in monthly volume, rivaling traditional stock exchanges.

Volatility—once cited as the major barrier to institutional adoption—has diminished over time and become better understood. Still, its presence remains a key consideration for institutional investors as it relates to assets such as bitcoin and ether.

Bitcoin is still more volatile than its counterpart gold but stands firmly in the middle of the Magnificent 7, as Fidelity Digital Assets® Research Analyst Zack Wainwright has previously demonstrated. The Fidelity Digital Assets Research team believes the entry of larger institutions and corporate treasuries has helped reduce panic-driven selling and established a more resilient price floor.

On the other hand, some analysts are now seeing volatility as a feature rather than a bug. As Bloomberg Senior ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas quipped, Bitcoin is like portfolio “hot sauce."⁵ A minimal allocation may have an outsized impact, improving risk/reward profiles when risk is managed appropriately. This theme is also one the Fidelity Digital Assets Research team has supported since 2019. 

The maturation of digital assets is perhaps most evident in the structures being built to support them. In 2024, the launch of the first U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded products (ETPs) was a watershed moment for the industry. Within their first year, U.S. spot bitcoin ETPs saw over $35.5 billion of net flows, far outpacing initial expectations and surpassing the success of previous ETP launches.⁶

Importantly, these ETP flows signal credible institutional interest. Some university endowments and pension funds have recently begun allocating, which are typically some of the last movers with regards to new asset classes due to tight investment criteria. Pensions and universities are not alone in the list of selective institutional investors, as even some sovereign wealth funds have started allocating to bitcoin via these regulated vehicles.

Through sheer scale and integration into traditional frameworks, digital assets have achieved a level of legitimacy few could have imagined a decade ago. It may no longer be a question for institutional investors whether digital assets are a legitimate asset class, as it seems the market has provided a potential answer.

Adoption Metrics: From Zero to Global in a Decade 

As posited in the previous section, bitcoin and digital assets are not just being held—they are actively used 24/7, across the globe. The rapid spread of this technology is evident through both user adoption and network activity, which in many ways mirror the early internet’s growth curve. Just 15 years into Bitcoin’s life and 10 years into Ethereum’s, usage metrics are on a trajectory comparable to the internet boom of the 1990s—signaling mainstream adoption.

A direct way to gauge adoption is through the number of addresses with a balance on these networks. For both networks this metric is used as a proxy for users to compare to other technologies like the internet. For Bitcoin, addresses with a balance is a clear identifier of the number of investors using bitcoin as a store of value. For Ethereum, it may be a combination of those using the platform or those investing in ether the token.

It is important to note that growth in bitcoin addresses with a balance has stagnated since the introduction of the ETPs. Although these metrics may become less relevant over time—especially as corporate adoption accelerates—they still offer a compelling point of comparison to the early days of the internet. 

Digital Assets as a Legitimate Treasury Allocation

There has been a surge in both companies and even nation-states incorporating bitcoin into their treasury and reserve strategies in recent years. This trend mirrors the early adoption curve of other transformative technologies. It typically starts with smaller, agile entities before gradually moving upmarket to larger institutions.  

Digital asset treasury companies (excluding miners) now collectively hold over 700,000 BTC and 3 million ETH, representing over 3.5% of all bitcoin and 2.5% of all ether in circulation.⁷ This group ranges from well-known firms that have operating income from a separate core business to a new breed of companies whose core business model is to hold digital assets.

The motivations for corporate adoption vary, with many citing that bitcoin serves as a pure hedge against currency debasement and ether as the bedrock of a new financial system. Regardless of the asset or motive, the trend is clear: Bitcoin and ether have entered the corporate balance sheet conversation. 

This trend has recently accelerated with the emergence of digital asset treasury companies (DATs) holding a wide variety of digital assets. Although the market is still in the early stages of what started as a treasury allocation experiment, an emerging pattern is taking shape: corporate balance sheets that are short deteriorating assets (dollars) and long scarce, valuable assets (bitcoin and ether). 

Looking ahead, the total addressable market for store-of-value or reserve assets is substantial. Bitcoin’s fixed supply of 21 million and ether’s emerging role as a yield-bearing, potentially cash flowing asset foundational to the future of finance make them both compelling options for entities seeking diversification and protection against currency debasement. 

The emergence of “short fiat, long scarce assets” as a general corporate investment strategy speaks to a broader macro narrative. In a world of high debt and money printing, solely being in cash or bonds may be risky. This has led to many forward-looking entities to opt in to harder assets—from real estate to commodities to digital assets. 

Stablecoins and Real-World Assets: The Next Financial Layer

Beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum, some of the most noteworthy developments in digital assets are happening in stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets (RWAs). These innovations bridge the gap between the digital assets’ ecosystem and traditional finance, providing functional utility today and reshaping how value is transferred globally.

Stablecoin growth—dollars taking advantage of the global accessibility and 24/7 nature of blockchain networks—is the strongest example of this. The combined market capitalization of dollar-backed stablecoins stands at approximately $250 billion as of mid-2025, up from virtually nothing five years ago.⁸ However, market cap only tells part of the story—usage is where stablecoins truly demonstrate their potential value.

Stablecoins processed $18 trillion in transaction volume over the past 12 months as of August 27, 2025, eclipsing many existing payment providers and becoming the preferred medium of exchange in digital asset markets.⁹ For comparison, Visa processed $15.4 trillion of total volume over the course of 2024.¹⁰

This has not gone unnoticed by policymakers. In fact, the first-ever crypto-specific federal legislation passed—the GENIUS Act—specifically targets the stablecoin sector. The Act provides a comprehensive framework to bring stablecoins into the regulated financial system, creating an opportunity for users to view them on par with bank deposits.

For businesses and institutional investors, stablecoins could offer immediate benefits as they combine the stability of the dollar with the efficiency of digital asset networks. Transactions can settle on weekends, cash can be streamed in real time, and—perhaps most importantly—stablecoins enable access to dollars without a bank account. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent emphasized this potential and explicitly noted that this technology, “expands access to the dollar economy for billions across the globe."¹¹ 

The tokenization trend extends beyond dollars to a wide range of real-world assets. Over the past year, tokenized treasury bills have seen rapid growth, offering investors yield on short-term government debt without leaving the blockchain environment. The market has also begun to see the emergence of tokenized equities, which enhance accessibility, efficiency, and expand trading hours for highly traded stocks.

Perhaps the most transformative opportunity lies in tokenizing historically illiquid assets such as real estate, commodities, and private assets. Many of these asset classes have traditionally only been accessible to institutional investors and some high-net-worth investors, including hedge funds and private credit markets.¹²

The rationale for this potential growth opportunity is simple: Tokenization has the potential to make traditionally illiquid or exclusive assets more accessible and tradeable. It is important to note that each specific asset group has its own nuance for why it may or may not benefit from upgraded network rails and to what degree. There has already been substantial growth in areas where the benefits to institutional investors are more pronounced—such as private credit—whereas experimentation continues in nearly all the assets listed above. 

Proven Reliability: Infrastructure That Works

It is the Fidelity Digital Assets Research team’s view that one of the underappreciated strengths of digital assets is their reliability. Bitcoin has maintained perfect uptime since 2013, while Ethereum has operated without interruption throughout its entire existence (over 10 years). Both networks have demonstrated resiliency in extreme conditions, which is notable in an era where large traditional institutions occasionally suffer outages.¹³

Bitcoin’s proof-of-work model offers global resilience, with mining operations able to relocate to different regions as needed. In contrast, Ethereum’s proof-of-stake model emphasizes accessibility, allowing anyone with a laptop and internet connection to participate in securing the network. 

Even Solana, which is often criticized for outages, has continued to produce blocks daily since inception. Its total downtime is measured in hours rather than days. This reflects the growing pains of a high-performance system as well as the elevated expectations assigned to these distributed networks. 

One could argue that there has been even more pressure on decentralized systems to perform throughout history, which has hardened them at a breakneck pace. 

For example, Bitcoin continued operations even after China banned bitcoin mining, despite the majority of its hash rate being located there at the time.¹⁴ Ethereum weathered an inactivity leak where over 33% of validators were temporarily unable to participate in consensus due to a bug in one of its software clients.¹⁵ More recently, Solana showcased its robust infrastructure by successfully managing a surge in activity associated with the launch of President Trump’s memecoin in January of 2025.¹⁶

For any asset to serve as a store of value or the backbone of the financial system, reliability is non-negotiable. So far, these networks have demonstrated they can meet that standard and have at least achieved reliability on par with centralized systems.

Conclusion: Why Now?

High debt, the rising probability of negative real rates, and growing concerns over central bank independence are strengthening the case for many scarce assets, with bitcoin leading the narrative. Simultaneously, technological innovation, improving regulatory clarity, and accelerating network effects are forming powerful tailwinds for broader digital asset adoption. 

The market has likely passed an inflection point in the adoption and performance of digital assets. For many institutional investors, fully dismissing this new paradigm may introduce its own risk. Over the next 5–10 years, mature digital asset platforms may see significant re-pricing as they absorb roles from traditional assets and as adoption hits critical mass. 

Digital assets appear to have matured into an asset class that merits deeper consideration. They are considered liquid, secure, globally accessible, and reliable, having become increasingly integrated into the traditional financial system. From bitcoin’s role as a store of value to the rise of Ethereum as a robust platform for stablecoins and tokenized assets, the strategic case for inclusion in diversified, modern portfolios seems strong.

It is important to note that history is not always indicative of the future, and any investment carries some degree of risk. However, the Fidelity Digital Assets Research team believes the question is no longer whether digital assets matter. For institutional investors seeking to manage risk and capture potential opportunity, the defining question of the next decade may instead be: What role should digital assets play in my portfolio? 

Connect with our team to discuss how digital assets may fit into your own investment strategy.