It's common to hear misguided arguments for buying Bitcoin (BTC 1.03%) that boil down to someone having a price target that sounds high. Those forecasts might prove right, but they often depend on assumptions that are somewhat speculative by nature.
But there's a bull case for this asset that requires no faith in specific valuations, and if you're holding or thinking of buying the coin, you should probably know about it, so let's check it out.
Image source: Getty Images.
Bitcoin is neutral money in a fracturing and increasingly polarized world
Bitcoin is one of the few widely recognized stores of value that no government can issue, freeze, or completely turn off. What's more, it's a lot easier to move and store than other assets with those same characteristics, like physical gold. And in a world where access to financial infrastructure is increasingly a lever of geopolitical power, these properties create demand for the crypto regardless of what the charts say about its price on any given day.
Economic sanctions have long operated through the traditional banking system. Cut a country off from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), the messaging network coordinating most cross-border bank transfers, and that nation's trade capacity shrinks drastically.
But it's hard to imagine how a country could be isolated from accessing Bitcoin's blockchain without being entirely cut off from the internet (or electricity) on an enduring basis.
CRYPTO: BTC
Key Data Points
For instance, in 2024, Russia permitted its domestic businesses to use crypto for international trade settlements after Western countries imposed sanctions following its invasion of Ukraine; its oil companies specifically use Bitcoin for this purpose.
Since 2019, Iran, similarly sanctioned by the West, has taken a slightly different route, converting its natural gas production into electricity for Bitcoin mining and using the mined coins to purchase goods for import. Using an alternative like stablecoins, which would be more convenient from a price stability perspective, means risking the stablecoin's issuer revoking access or freezing funds at the behest of a regulator.
In other words, Bitcoin functions as a neutral settlement layer outside any country's banking system. That creates persistent demand from actors who need financial access that traditional channels won't provide.
Outlaws aren't the only ones who need neutral money
Financial exclusion isn't limited to sanctioned countries. As financial systems become more reliant on centralized intermediaries, the conditions under which someone can lose access to their own capital tend to multiply. In the U.S., the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) found in 2025 that nine major banks restricted services to lawful businesses based on their industry, which is a practice that's known as debanking.
An asset like Bitcoin, which can be held in a self-custody wallet and transferred globally without permission, could thus be worthwhile for at-risk organizations and individuals alike.
Therefore, as an asset whose value proposition strengthens whenever a government weaponizes financial infrastructure or a bank shuts an account without explanation, Bitcoin occupies a category almost nothing else does -- and that's going to continue driving demand for a long time.
