Key Takeaways
- Industry leaders on April 28 discussed the current state of affairs at the Bitcoin 2026 conference
- 99% of institutional investors are unable to access bitcoin and ETFs due to operational constraints
- Lack of custody and regulatory transparency are pointed out as major barriers to entry.
- Expansion of channel entry such as ETF issuance also limits market expansion due to entrenched issues
“99% of Institutions Are Unable to Enter BTC”
On April 28, at the Nakamoto stage of the Bitcoin 2026 conference in the U.S., industry leaders discussed the status and challenges of entry into Bitcoin (BTC).
According to Bitcoin Magazine, the panel stated that 99% of institutional investors are unable to access bitcoin and bitcoin ETFs due to operational policy restrictions.
Behind these constraints are factors such as the lack of a custodial system and regulatory opacity, and unless resolutions are found, full-scale inflows from institutional investors will remain limited.
Nakamoto chief David Bailey, Capital B’s Alexandre Reese, and Metaplanet’s Dylan Leclerc expressed their recognition that bottlenecks are similar constraints to market expansion.
The discussion also touched on the Bitcoin industry’s unique cooperative structure, in which competing companies share strategies, and pointed out that this culture complements the slow development of institutions while supporting institutional adoption.
Strategy Collaboration as Part of Industry Culture
Bailey described bitcoin as “more like a decentralized organization” and expressed his conviction that the higher the corporate value of competitors, the higher the market valuation.
Bailey cites UTXO Management’s stake in both capital and Metaplanet, pointing out that the line between investors and collaborators is blurred.
Leclerc agreed, stating that the bitcoin industry is different from almost every other industry in that participants share their strategies and achievements with each other.
