As Bitcoin continues to rally hard to its new all-time highs, more and more people and institutions have come out in support of the largest cryptocurrency.

“Bitcoin’s moment has arrived,” said Guy Hirsch of eToro US, according to whom institutional involvement is one of the reasons for the recent advance.

It also needs to be pointed out that now the market has numerous ways for institutional investors to get exposure to crypto, which didn’t exist in 2017.

Most recently, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink talked about how Bitcoin can evolve into a global market. The research arm of AllianceBernstein, Bernstein Research, also had a change of heart.

According to Inigo Fraser-Jenkins, BTC has a role in asset allocation thanks to a “significant reduction” in its volatility, making it attractive as a store of value and medium of exchange. He even likened it to gold.

“It's starting to turn into a stampede for Bitcoin. Bernstein suggests a 1.5-10% allocation for BTC. Huge. Respected Wall St equity research house changes mind. Hard for asset allocators not to pay attention to drumbeat of positives from institutions,” Dan Tapiero, co-founder of 10T Holdings, commented on this development.

Currently trading above $19,000, the leading digital asset has been making several attempts to hit new all-time highs since last week.

These record levels are being achieved by Bitcoin just as billions of dollars have been fleeing gold.

“Gold was really the safe asset of the past world and baby boomer generation,” said Jean-Marc Bonnefous, a former hedge fund manager, turned crypto investor. “Now it’s being replaced by automated assets like Bitcoin.”

Compared to Bitcoin’s 166% run-up this year, gold has only recorded a spike of 19%. This has bought BTC in the limelight as a hedge against inflation.

While retail investors dominated the previous bull run, this time, Paul Tudor Jones, Stan Druckenmiller, Guggenheim Partners, and many more have joined the bandwagon.

According to JPMorgan Chase, funds like family offices are selling their gold ETFs for the leading digital asset. While bullion-backed funds dropped 93 tons of precious metal, Grayscale bitcoin Trust saw billions of dollars pouring in, surpassing $10 billion in AUM for the first time.

“Bitcoin is establishing itself as a credible store of value,” James Butterfill, investment strategist at CoinShares, said.

“This is particularly appealing during this time of unprecedented loose monetary policy. For these reasons investors are naturally comparing it to gold.”

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