Robbie Mitchnik, Head of Digital Assets at BlackRock Inc. (NYSE: Black), warned that the artificial intelligence (AI) boom is sucking the oxygen out of Bitcoin (Bitcoin).
Everything unrelated to AI trading, including Bitcoin, has faced difficulties since the beginning of the fourth quarter of 2025, Mitchnick said, according to an interview with Yahoo Finance on June 22, 2026. As a result, investors have been pouring capital into AI-centric assets, such as A.I. StocksAt the expense of Bitcoin.
“It’s been tough for Bitcoin since last October for all cryptocurrencies, and in many ways that’s consistent with everything that’s not AI-centric. And the AI momentum is definitely sucking a lot of oxygen out of the room,” Mitnick said. He said.
AI Stocks Outperform Bitcoin in 2026
Additionally, Mitchnick noted that gold and precious metals have faced difficulties alongside Bitcoin due to high demand for AI stocks. Some AI stocks that have outperformed Bitcoin year-to-date (YTD) include Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: Intech), Marvell Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MRVL), Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD), Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ: Afgo).
Meanwhile, the major coin is down about 28.9% year-to-date to trade at around $62,230 on June 23. As such, Bitcoin’s market cap was about $1.2 trillion at press time, which is less than Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ: Spex), although SpaceX The stock launched earlier this month.
BlackRock’s BTC forecast
However, Mitchnick sees greater strength on the horizon for Bitcoin. Specifically, he argued that rising debt and deficits in the United States were potential tailwinds.
Moreover, Jay Jacobs, a managing director at BlackRock and head of the company’s equity ETFs, recently said that Bitcoin is too big for institutional investors to ignore. BlackRock already has several BTC-related products, including the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (He will go), the iShares Bitcoin Premium Income ETF (BITA), and an indirect BTC stake in Strategy Inc (NASDAQ: MSTR), all of which have seen significant outflows, like Finebold I mentioned.
