Binance founder Changpeng Zhao says some speculative capital that previously moved toward artificial intelligence investments is beginning to rotate back into cryptocurrency, adding another potentially bullish factor for Bitcoin as institutional adoption continues expanding.
The comments arrive after a difficult year for digital assets in which artificial intelligence stocks became one of the strongest competing destinations for investor capital.
Zhao, better known throughout the cryptocurrency industry as CZ, said Wednesday that some of the market’s “hot money” is moving from AI back toward crypto.
His broader argument is that artificial intelligence may have temporarily captured the attention of investors chasing fast-growing opportunities, but the financial infrastructure surrounding digital money remains relevant.
CZ also suggested that AI itself will increasingly require payment systems and financial infrastructure as autonomous software agents become capable of performing economic activity.
The statement represents a notable shift from the environment Zhao described only a few months earlier.
In June, CZ cited capital moving toward artificial intelligence as one of several forces contributing to cryptocurrency’s poor performance during the first half of 2026.
He also pointed to geopolitical instability and Bitcoin’s traditional four-year market cycle.
Bitcoin had entered 2026 near $89,000, briefly moved above $96,000 and then plunged toward $60,000.
The decline was even more severe when measured from Bitcoin’s October 2025 record above $126,000.
At its weakest point during 2026, Bitcoin had lost more than half its value from that peak.
Artificial intelligence stocks were simultaneously attracting enormous amounts of investment as companies continued spending aggressively on data centers, semiconductors, servers and other computing infrastructure.
That created direct competition for speculative capital.
Investors looking for high-growth opportunities increasingly had a choice between cryptocurrency and rapidly appreciating AI-related stocks.
CZ now believes some of that short-term capital is beginning to move back.
His observation does not necessarily mean institutional investors are abandoning artificial intelligence.
Instead, it points toward the behavior of highly mobile speculative money that frequently rotates between whichever market themes are generating the strongest returns and attention.
That kind of capital can move quickly.
It may enter AI stocks during a technology rally, return to Bitcoin during a crypto rebound and shift again if another investment theme becomes more attractive.
The potential return of those speculative flows comes as Bitcoin has already recovered substantially from its 2026 lows.
At the time of the original report, Bitcoin was trading near $77,278 and had changed little over the previous 24 hours, slipping approximately 0.04%.
Bitcoin nevertheless remains far below its October 2025 record.
That gap has contributed to a growing debate over whether the current recovery represents the beginning of another significant long-term advance or simply a rebound inside a larger trading range.
New research from Bitcoin financial-services company River offers one of the more aggressive long-term scenarios.
River published research Wednesday arguing that Bitcoin remains dramatically underrepresented in traditional investment portfolios despite increasing adoption across Wall Street.
The company believes a Bitcoin allocation of around 10% can be appropriate for many long-term investors.
River’s argument begins with the traditional 60% stock and 40% bond portfolio.
For decades, that approach benefited from relatively low inflation, manageable government debt and a tendency for bonds to perform well when stocks weakened.
River argues those conditions have become less reliable.
Its research maintains that investors need greater exposure to scarce assets that cannot be easily increased in supply.
Bitcoin’s maximum supply is limited to 21 million coins.
River therefore views Bitcoin as a modern form of scarce or “hard” asset that can potentially diversify portfolios containing primarily stocks and bonds.
The company describes a 0.5% Bitcoin allocation as essentially the minimum neutral position because Bitcoin now represents approximately 0.5% of global financial assets.
Holding less than that amount, according to River’s framework, effectively represents an active decision to remain underweight Bitcoin.
River’s preferred long-term allocation is considerably larger.
The company argues that approximately 10% may provide a better combination of inflation protection, diversification and potential appreciation for long-term investors capable of tolerating Bitcoin’s volatility.
Its historical modeling compared a traditional 60/40 portfolio with portfolios in which portions of the bond allocation were replaced by Bitcoin.
River said a portfolio maintaining a 10% Bitcoin allocation over the previous decade would have finished with roughly $60,595 compared with approximately $25,364 for the traditional portfolio.
The maximum peak-to-trough decline increased by about six percentage points in that historical exercise.
Those results are backward-looking and do not guarantee similar performance in the future.
River also acknowledged that an appropriate allocation depends on factors including an investor’s time horizon, financial resources, conviction in Bitcoin and existing exposure to other scarce assets.
The company’s more eye-catching analysis examines what could happen to Bitcoin’s price if wider adoption eventually moves portfolios toward even relatively modest allocations.
River estimates that investment advisors collectively hold only around 0.008% of their assets in Bitcoin today.
That is extraordinarily small compared with allocation recommendations increasingly being discussed by major financial institutions.
River says Wall Street firms have been recommending Bitcoin exposure generally ranging from approximately 1% to 7%, depending on the institution and investor.
At the same time, ownership has already become widespread among the largest advisory firms.
Twenty-nine of the 30 largest registered investment advisors in the United States now have some exposure to Bitcoin.
The important distinction is between ownership and allocation size.
Many financial institutions may technically own Bitcoin or Bitcoin exchange-traded funds while still allocating only a tiny fraction of their total assets to them.
River sees that gap as a potentially enormous source of future demand.
Financial advisors oversee a substantial share of American household wealth.
According to River’s research, the percentage of advisors allocating client money to cryptocurrency increased from approximately 22% in 2024 to 32% in 2025.
Another 56% said they planned to increase exposure or were considering doing so.
Even among participating advisors, however, average Bitcoin allocations remain below 0.1%.
River therefore constructed a scenario examining what could happen if adoption continues expanding.
The company estimates global financial assets at approximately $333 trillion.
Its model assumes that somewhere between 20% and 40% of investment portfolios eventually allocate approximately 2% to 4% to Bitcoin.
Under those assumptions, Bitcoin could attract between roughly $1.3 trillion and $5.3 trillion in net new investment over the next three to five years.
River estimates that demand of that magnitude could correspond with a Bitcoin price somewhere between approximately $250,000 and $840,000.
The upper end would represent an enormous increase from Bitcoin’s current price near $77,000.
A move to $250,000 would represent more than a tripling.
A move toward $840,000 would push Bitcoin’s market value into a completely different category among global financial assets.
But the figures should be understood as scenario analysis rather than a conventional price target.
River’s model depends on several assumptions becoming reality.
More investors would need to adopt Bitcoin.
Those investors would need to allocate meaningfully larger percentages of their portfolios.
The resulting capital would have to translate into price appreciation in a manner broadly consistent with River’s assumptions.
The analysis also looks three to five years into the future rather than predicting an immediate move.
River’s longer-term optimism contrasts with a much more cautious near-term picture from blockchain analytics company Glassnode.
Glassnode’s latest market analysis suggests Bitcoin is still trapped inside a clearly defined trading range.
The firm’s on-chain data identifies substantial support between approximately $62,000 and $65,000.
That area reflects accumulation that occurred during Bitcoin’s summer consolidation.
On the upside, Bitcoin faces a much more immediate problem.
Glassnode identifies heavy long-term-holder supply concentrated between roughly $83,000 and $86,000.
That zone represents Bitcoin’s major near-term resistance area.
In other words, even if speculative capital begins returning from AI and other investments, Bitcoin may need to absorb significant selling from existing holders before it can establish a stronger upward trend.
The market recently demonstrated that difficulty.
A major short squeeze occurred on August 19.
Short sellers are traders positioned to profit when Bitcoin declines.
When the price suddenly rises, those traders may be forced to close positions by purchasing Bitcoin, creating additional buying pressure.
Glassnode described the August 19 event as an unusually large liquidation of bearish positions.
The squeeze helped propel Bitcoin back toward the $80,000 region.
Bitcoin eventually traded above $80,000 on August 27.
The recovery did not last.
Sellers emerged around the higher price levels and pushed Bitcoin back toward approximately $76,000.
That rejection reinforced Glassnode’s view that significant supply remains above the current market.
On-chain profitability data also indicate that selling pressure may be greater now than it was earlier this year even when Bitcoin trades at roughly the same price.
When Bitcoin traded around $78,000 in May, approximately 65% of its circulating supply was in profit.
When Bitcoin returned to approximately the same price during late August, about 68% of supply was profitable.
That three-percentage-point difference matters.
More investors now hold Bitcoin at acquisition prices below the current market price.
As Bitcoin moves higher, those investors have an opportunity to sell at a profit.
Glassnode attributes the change partly to redistribution and accumulation that occurred during the summer.
The short-term-holder cost basis has shifted toward approximately $71,000.
That means returning to the same $78,000 price level now activates a larger pool of potentially profitable sellers than it did in May.
For Bitcoin bulls, the challenge is absorbing that supply.
The market has received support from exchange-traded funds.
At their strongest point during the recent recovery, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs were absorbing approximately $290 million per day.
Those inflows demonstrate continued institutional demand.
But activity in the broader secondary market remained relatively restrained.
Glassnode said spot ETF flows were accompanied by secondary-market turnover of only around $3 billion per day.
That pattern can occur when a rally is driven heavily by a specific catalyst without developing the sustained trading activity normally associated with a more durable market breakout.
Macroeconomic conditions are another obstacle.
The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield has returned to approximately 4.8%.
Higher government bond yields can make risk assets such as Bitcoin less attractive because investors can receive stronger returns from comparatively safer securities.
Rising yields can also reduce market liquidity and increase pressure on highly speculative investments.
Bitcoin is therefore facing competing forces.
Longer-term institutional adoption continues progressing.
Twenty-nine of the 30 largest U.S. registered investment advisors already have some Bitcoin exposure.
Current allocations remain extremely small, leaving potentially substantial room for additional investment.
River believes even modest portfolio shifts could create trillions of dollars in demand over several years.
CZ believes some speculative money that previously chased artificial intelligence opportunities is already beginning to rotate back toward cryptocurrency.
But the immediate market structure remains much less certain.
Bitcoin is still trading below the $83,000 to $86,000 zone where Glassnode sees heavy long-term-holder supply.
A meaningful breakout would require buyers to absorb coins from investors willing to take profits around those levels.
Below the market, Glassnode’s $62,000 to $65,000 accumulation region represents the more important structural support area if Bitcoin weakens again.
That leaves Bitcoin between two very different narratives.
The long-term case is increasingly built around institutional adoption, limited supply and the possibility that even relatively small allocations from enormous global portfolios could produce substantial new demand.
The short-term case remains dominated by resistance, profit-taking, Treasury yields and the question of whether recent buying has enough strength to push Bitcoin beyond its current range.
CZ’s observation that speculative capital is returning from AI could strengthen the demand side of that equation.
But speculative money alone may not be enough.
Bitcoin’s next major test remains the supply sitting between $83,000 and $86,000.
If buyers can absorb that selling and establish the price above the range, the market could begin providing early evidence for the larger adoption thesis.
If sellers continue overwhelming buyers there, Bitcoin could remain trapped despite improving institutional interest.
That difference is why River’s $840,000 scenario and Glassnode’s $83,000 resistance level are not necessarily contradictory.
They operate on completely different timelines.
River is asking what could happen over three to five years if global investors gradually increase Bitcoin allocations.
Glassnode is asking whether Bitcoin has enough demand today to overcome the supply immediately above its current price.
For now, the answer to the second question remains unresolved.
Bitcoin has recovered substantially from its 2026 lows, speculative money may be returning, and institutional ownership continues broadening.
But before the market can seriously consider prices measured in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, Bitcoin first has to prove it can break through the sellers waiting only a few thousand dollars above its current level.