Amy Oldenburg, the chief operating officer for emerging markets equity at Morgan Stanley, recently discussed Bitcoin’s evolving role as a digital gold alternative. She described the digital gold investment thesis as “a pretty strong rationale” but emphasized the need for Bitcoin to trade more like gold and less like traditional risk assets before it meets its full potential as a safe haven.
Bitcoin’s relationship with gold and risk assets
Oldenburg explained that while Bitcoin often draws comparisons to gold due to its finite supply and reputation as an inflation hedge, recent price movements still show a relatively high correlation with riskier assets. She believes a further shift toward behaving like gold, especially during periods of market turmoil, could strengthen Bitcoin’s position as a store of value for institutional and retail portfolios.
In her assessment, Oldenburg noted that Bitcoin’s correlation with gold is key to its acceptance as a digital safe haven, but she continues to observe price patterns that align more closely with stocks and risk-on trades.
The executive also discussed the impact of inflation concerns and fluctuating economic data on Bitcoin demand. She cautioned against relying too heavily on daily moves or individual inflation reports when evaluating Bitcoin’s long-term investment outlook.
Stablecoins and institutional adoption
Oldenburg covered the increasing influence of stablecoins such as USDT on Bitcoin’s activity, noting their role in broadening the ecosystem and facilitating capital flows. She highlighted that Morgan Stanley’s spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) has attracted a diverse set of buyers, ranging from individual to institutional investors.
Regarding self-custody practices, Oldenburg outlined that some clients are moving self-custodied Bitcoin into ETF shares for easier compliance and portfolio management. She also described emerging options for borrowing against both spot Bitcoin and ETF positions, which are expanding the utility of Bitcoin in traditional finance.
Mini dictionary: USDT (Tether) is a stablecoin, a type of cryptocurrency designed to maintain a stable value by being pegged to a traditional currency such as the US dollar. Stablecoins are widely used as a medium of exchange and in cryptocurrency trading for their price stability.
Assessing quantum risk and technological trends
Quantum computing risks have become a topic of interest for Morgan Stanley’s digital asset division. Oldenburg stated that the company is actively evaluating potential threats that future quantum computers could pose to Bitcoin’s cryptography, which relies on current encryption algorithms to secure transactions and ownership.
She also pointed out the transformative potential of tokenization, suggesting that it could eventually impact every asset class—beyond just cryptocurrencies—and enable more seamless transfer and management of traditional assets.
Morgan Stanley has established a Digital Asset Lab to track these ongoing innovations and assess their influence on finance, policy, and investor behavior.
AI and the future of the agentic economy
Looking ahead, Oldenburg addressed the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) agents in financial markets. She sees a future where autonomous AI-driven agents could reshape the way assets are traded and managed, introducing new efficiencies and risks in what she described as an “agentic economy.”
Despite these ongoing technological shifts, she remains cautious about making judgments on Bitcoin’s trajectory based solely on short-term market events or economic data releases.
Oldenburg emphasized that while short-term volatility is unavoidable, her outlook on Bitcoin is shaped by structural trends and client interest rather than day-to-day market swings.
