In 2017, there is no denying how Bitcoin’s ascent from just $1000 to near $20,000 caught the attention of different individuals, organizations and businesses. Many were trumpeting good fortune online ramped up by stories of Bitcoin millionaires who were lucky enough to invest during the early phase of Bitcoin.
However, things didn’t work out well for Bitcoin this year. In June,
Bitcoin ended up at around $5,700. And just a few days ago, Bitcoin was once again trading below $6,000. One of the main reasons for the recent bearish market is due to the SEC’s decision to decline Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss’ Bitcoin ETF application. In addition to this, the agency also postponed their decision regarding crypto-related ETF applications to next month.
Andreas Antonopoulos Criticizes Bitcoin ETFs
Andreas Antonopoulos made use of online sessions in order to address different aspects about the crypto world. For Antonopoulos, he is not really in favor of an ETF coming to Bitcoin. He mentioned that “your keys—your Bitcoin,; not your keys—not your Bitcoin”, this is how he summarized how an ETF could actually change the landscape for Bitcoin.
He isn’t the only one that is not too excited regarding a possible Bitcoin ETF. Vitalik Buterin who is the co-founder of Ethereum also thinks that the crypto world needs adoption more than a crypto-related ETF. He believes that though it can help spike the price of cryptocurrencies, adoption offers a long-term benefit for the niche.
Many believe that a Bitcoin ETF will most likely attract institutional investors. However, Antonopoulos thinks that there is neither a rush nor a need that will usher towards an ‘ETF era’. He said that “An ETF is a multibillion-dollar ‘not-your-keys-not-your-Bitcoin’ vehicle, so that’s why I’m against it and I wouldn’t buy any”.
More Trouble?
But when it comes to the possibility that it is going to happen, he believes that this is going to happen anyway. He said that “But it is going to happen anyway… because there’s enormous market appetite and very little technical knowledge, so institutional investors simply can’t at the moment hold Bitcoin directly”.
He concluded that having an intermediary for Bitcoin exposure rather than having your own private keys will make crypto investors “second tier”. In addition to this, you also have the likes of Nick Szabo who also thinks that a Bitcoin ETF “might cause more problems than it’s worth”.
And why exactly will this be a bigger problem? There is always that possibility that an ETF operator can potentially sway consensus in an event of a future hard fork. In 2017, major exchanges decided in behalf of its user base during the Bitcoin Cash fork last year. And this pattern according to Antonopoulos can happen again. This time around if there is a Bitcoin ETF, this would mean a significantly much larger amount of money being involved.
Can Bitcoin ETF really happen? Experts are saying that Solid X’s Bitcoin ETF has a strong chance of getting approved. As for now, everyone will just have to wait for the SEC’s decision next month.
