Marc Bernegger, a Swiss Blockchain Federation board member, said Bitcoin’s biggest overlooked trend is its shift into collateral. Holders can borrow against their coins to build generational wealth without ever selling them.
Key Takeaways:
- Bitcoin’s fixed supply and growing institutional demand echo gold’s long history as a store of value.
- Switzerland’s early crypto scene helped Bitcoin grow from a fringe idea into a mainstream asset.
- Bernegger sees long-term thinking behind Bitcoin and longevity investing as fundamentally the same instinct.
Bernegger shared his outlook in an interview with CoinShares, the digital asset manager behind the CoinShares Bitcoin ETF (BRRR ). He bought his first Bitcoin in 2012, about a year after he came across Satoshi Nakamoto’s white paper. He said that he saw it less as an investment at the time than as a new way to exchange value.
That view shifted as Bernegger watched Bitcoin’s fixed supply and rising demand echo gold’s role in monetary history, he said. He came to see Bitcoin as digital gold, a long-term store of value built for a digitized economy.
See more: Bitcoin ETFs Could Triple Gold Funds Within 5 Years
Bernegger noted that using Bitcoin as collateral is still in its early stages, but he expects it to become a megatrend. More holders, he said, are likely to borrow against their coins to cover expenses instead of selling them. That shift would lock up supply and add to Bitcoin’s scarcity.
Self-custody remains central to how early Bitcoin holders like Bernegger store their coins, he said. But collateral use and other mainstream finance needs are pushing more holders toward a mix that also includes regulated accounts.
The shift traces back to Switzerland’s early crypto scene, where Bernegger was active years before Bitcoin went mainstream. Ethereum’s launch out of Zug around 2015 helped turn the country into what became known as Crypto Valley, he said. Switzerland was seen as a leading jurisdiction for digital assets through the late 2010s.
Bitcoin's Longevity Parallel
Bernegger pivoted to a new venture in 2021, co-founding the longevity venture-builder Maximon the same year Crypto Finance Group, (the digital asset firm he helped start), was acquired by Deutsche Boerse. He said that the long-term thinking behind extending human health span mirrors the patience required to hold Bitcoin through its swings.
Unrelated to price, Bernegger added, Bitcoin’s bigger story is how an idea dismissed years ago as fringe has drawn interest from major institutions and some of the wealthiest individuals as a long-term store of value. He stopped short of calling himself a Bitcoin maximalist, saying that he has yet to see other cryptocurrencies make the same real-world impact.
Asked to choose between Bitcoin and the Swiss franc to close the interview, Bernegger said that he keeps his fiat holdings in francs for now, calling himself lucky to be shielded from the broader devaluation hitting global currencies. Over the long run, though, he said his bet is on Bitcoin.
For more news, information, and strategy, visit the CoinShares Crypto ETF Hub.
