The crypto industry has expanded far beyond its original roots. Stablecoins, institutional involvement, tokenization, and digital asset treasuries have dominated the discourse over the last year.
According to Mike Belshe, CEO of BitGo, the core idea that launched the industry still matters most: Bitcoin’s scarcity.
During a recent interview with TheStreet Roundtable, Belshe said Bitcoin continues to play a foundational role in the digital asset ecosystem because its monetary supply is fixed in a way that traditional currencies cannot replicate.
“Over the long arc of history, we are going to realize that the scarcity of money, which only Bitcoin provides, is how you get the bedrock of safety,” Belshe said.
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Crypto has expanded, but the core is still the same
Belshe founded BitGo in 2013 as a custody platform designed to help institutions store digital assets securely. While the company now supports thousands of tokens, he said Bitcoin remains central to the industry’s long term credibility.
“We touch all kinds of coins in addition to Bitcoin today, thousands of coins,” Belshe said. “But it’s that safety piece which matters most and it’s why it lasts the long arc of time.”
Bitcoin’s scarcity is often described as one of its defining features. The network’s supply is capped at 21 million coins, a rule embedded in its code that cannot easily be altered.
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The 20th million Bitcoin was mined on March 9th, 2026. The remaining one million coins will be mined over the next 114 years, with the final Bitcoin entering circulation in the year 2140.
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Mike Belshe says Bitcoin’s scarcity remains its most important featureMaintaining the Bitcoin network
For Belshe, maintaining that reliability requires ongoing work from developers and infrastructure providers across the ecosystem.
“None of this is done,” he said. “The Bitcoin ecosystem and the teams need to continue to work to make sure people can fully trust Bitcoin.”
That includes monitoring potential risks such as centralization pressures or security vulnerabilities that could weaken the network over time.
“We have to identify centralization where it might start to rear its ugly head and find ways to make it more decentralized,” Belshe said.
Despite the rapid growth of the broader crypto industry, Belshe believes Bitcoin’s original value proposition has not changed.
Digital asset markets may rise and fall with speculation, new technologies, and shifting regulation. But in his view, Bitcoin’s role as a scarce and resilient monetary network will remain intact.
“The digital asset markets are going to go up and down in this time of volatility,” Belshe said. “But Bitcoin will remain strong all the way through.”
This story was originally published by TheStreet on Mar 9, 2026, where it first appeared in the MARKETS section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.