Bitcoin now represents a new asset class and there are several reasons for that. It turned out bitcoin has near zero correlation to other asset classes — it neither moves in tandem with any of them nor in the opposite direction.

On top of that, bitcoin often offers better returns for the amount of risk taken. Though bitcoin is more volatile than other asset classes, its volatility has decreased by over 50% in the last few years while actual returns are very high.

In terms of invest-ability bitcoin fulfilled all requirements with $1 billion in bitcoin being traded on exchanges a day, and just as much over the counter. Moreover, the growing appeal of bitcoin has become especially apparent during times of financial crisis. For instance, Coinbase saw double the amount of new-user signups the day the Brexit result was announced, as well as a 3.5 times increase in the amount of bitcoin existing users were purchasing.

These characteristics are drawing institutional investors. They have shown greater demand for it, cryptocurrency exchanges have added more advanced features for professional traders and even the likes of Paypal have begun to accept it as payment.