ビットコインは機関投資家向け市場になったか？

ビットコイン (BTC )、ブロックチェーン、そして暗号通貨は、貨幣の本質に関する概念的な考えから、そしてデジタル時代の新しい通貨を創造するほぼアナーキー的な実験として誕生し、国家や金融機関という従来の束縛から解放されたものでした。

Many years later, it has evolved so much that it is now a “mainstream” asset, alongside many other major cryptocurrencies. A major shift occurred when financial institutions like major corporations, banks, and funds started buying Bitcoin and helping their clients access Bitcoin through tools like futures and ETFs.

“スポットビットコインETF、デリバティブ市場、そして機関向けカストディとブローカレッジサービスの最近の成長により、取引の摩擦が低減され、プロの投資家へのアクセスが向上しました。”

So Bitcoin has evolved through several phases, which can be summarized as niche (2012–2016), transition (2017–2020), and institutional (2021–2025) (see below).
This progressive maturation of Bitcoin and crypto markets has recently been studied by a researcher at the National Central University in Taiwan.

“ビットコインの成熟は、流動性の深化と情報効率の向上だけでなく、ボラティリティショックに対する回復力の向上とも関連しており、これはより高度な取引インフラの発展と機関投資家の参加に一致しています。”

The study was published in Borsa Istanbul Review¹, under the title “Maturation of Bitcoin market microstructure: Evidence of institutional-grade liquidity and efficiency (2012–2025)”.

機関投資家向け市場を構成する要素

There is no doubt that in its early days, Bitcoin was at best a niche asset, with the technology still maturing and early adopters being mostly interested in Bitcoin for technical or political reasons, with the total value of existing Bitcoins rather small.
In comparison, large, mature markets are characterized by deep liquidity in the tens of hundreds of billions of dollars, low transaction costs, with tools, market actors, and regulators for controlling excess volatility and fraud risks.
The shift of Bitcoin toward such characteristics matters, because after an asset becomes easier to hold, trade, and rebalance at scale, it becomes a plausible component in a strategic portfolio.
So figuring out if Bitcoin is now “institutional grade” is very important for both Bitcoin investors and other investors not yet active in cryptocurrencies.

研究で明らかになったこと

ビットコインの歴史の三つのフェーズ

This study classifies the history of Bitcoin into three distinct phases.
The first isニッチ期 from 2012 to 2016. It is characterized by early-stage adoption and limited regulatory oversight.
Bitcoin operated as a thin and highly volatile market with severe adverse-selection costs.
The second phase was移行期 from 2017 to 2020. It marks the initiation of mainstream retail participation and the development of more professional trading infrastructure, including the launch of Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Bitcoin futures and the expansion of centralized exchanges, such as Binance.
Price-impact costs decline sharply, indicating the emergence of a more diversified trading ecosystem.
The third and current phase is the機関投資家向け期 from 2021 to 2025. It reflects Bitcoin’s deeper integration with traditional finance, supported by corporate treasury allocations to Bitcoin and スポットビットコイン上場投資信託（ETF）の承認.
In this phase, the study argues that Bitcoin’s microstructure displays liquidity and efficiency characteristics more consistent with institutional-grade venues.

この結論を裏付けるデータ

The study reaches this conclusion by constructing a high-frequency dataset for the full sample period.
From 2012-2019, it used the BTC/USD pair from Bitstamp; from 2019年11月 to 2025年12月, it used one-minute OHLCV data for Binance’s BTC/Tether (USDT) market, obtained from Binance’s historical archives and bridge files.
This created a total of 6.8 million high-frequency (one-minute OHLCV data) data points, with all timestamps converted to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).

全く新しいビットコイン市場

The study found that mean daily realized volatility (RV) decreased almost 9-fold from the niche period to the institutional period. Over the same period, mean daily trading volume increased substantially, increasing 7.5-fold.

出典: Borsa Istanbul Review