Bitcoin no longer a ‘fringe asset,’ says top Bitcoin mining exec

Jeff LaBerge, Head of Capital Markets and Strategic Initiatives at Bitdeer, believes Bitcoin has firmly established itself as a legitimate asset class.

Speaking with Rob Nelson on Roundtable , LaBerge pushed back against skeptics who question Bitcoin’s value compared to traditional currencies.

“It has value because people believe in it and people trust it, and it's finite, so there's scarcity to it,” LaBerge said. “It’s liquid enough now where institutions have gotten on board with it and are now involved in it. So it's not this sort of fringe asset class that maybe people thought it was many years ago.”

He noted that Bitcoin’s accessibility has improved, making it easier for mainstream investors to participate. With the introduction of spot Bitcoin ETFs, retail and institutional investors alike can now gain exposure without directly handling digital wallets or private keys.

“If you think about the technology behind it, sometimes you have to kind of suspend your disbelief… But at the end of the day, it comes back to just faith in the system,” he added. “And if enough people have faith in it and believe it has value, it has value.”

Bitdeer expands beyond Bitcoin mining

LaBerge also provided insight into Bitdeer’s evolving business strategy. Originally founded as a Bitcoin mining firm in 2020, the company went public in 2023 and has since expanded into multiple areas of digital infrastructure.

“We have three very synergistic businesses… Bitcoin mining, ASIC manufacturing, and AI/HPC (high-performance computing),” he explained.

One of the most significant moves for Bitdeer is its entry into ASIC manufacturing, which allows the company to build its own mining rigs instead of relying on third-party suppliers. “Not only are we a miner of Bitcoins now, but we are now actually a manufacturer of the computers that are used to mine Bitcoin,” LaBerge noted.