According to Elain Ou, for Bitcoin to acquire the legitimacy of sovereign currency, it has to be a part of the balance sheets of a lot of companies, and be stable pricewise.

Bitcoin addresses are controlled by cryptocurrency exchanges. Most of the users of Bitcoin let the third parties take the custody of their assets. This very fact frustrates its claim of being a decentralised currency. By design, Bitcoin placed less reliance on the fallible human organisations. Each user ran its own copy of software. The tractions were independently verified. The network was kept secure. Corporate treasuries are a different ball game. Bitcoin is a bearer instrument. Users are likely to lose the investment.

Bitcoins are not in physical form, not even in digital form. These are accounting book following a protocol. All participants follow the same protocol. However, this is theoretical. In practice , there could be tinkering with the protocol.

Acceptance is a sine qua non for money. It can be dictated by law. Bitcoin acquire legitimacy by the willingness to accept it in exchange for goods and services.

Bitcoin Trust in 2017 proposed a change to the core protocol that would double the number of transactions recorded per minute on the blockchain. This may split the network, leaving two independent cryptocurrencies claiming identity as Bitcoin. It was resisted by the trade. The modification was given up.

Over and above, Musk’s investment in Bitcoin, what has worked in fewair of Bitcoin is his willingness to exchange the currency for Tesla cars. BNY Mellon is ready to provide infrastructure for Bitcoin for cryptocurrencies. Visa and Mastercard too have joined.

Institutional adoption is a sign of the maturity of Bitcoin.