Announcing this week he intended to “burst” the ecosystem’s “bubble” because of “Lambos” and “to the moon, and all that,” one of the most respected thought leaders in cryptocurrency, Andreas M. Antonopoulos revealed he believes bitcoin exchange traded funds (ETFs) are “a terrible idea.” The author of The Internet of Money and the seminal Mastering Bitcoin does think bitcoin ETFs are coming, but he also suggests bitcoin ETFs mean a kind of financialization that runs directly counter to the entire point of Bitcoin specifically and cryptocurrency generally.
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Andreas Antonopoulos Believes Bitcoin ETFs are a Terrible Idea
“I am actually against ETFs,” Andreas Antonopoulos remarked during his brief video, Bitcoin Q&A: Why I’m against ETFs. For mainstreaming enthusiasts, those who hope to get more bitcoin core (BTC) adoption, the exchanged traded fund holds almost mystical appeal. The ETF is also thought to be key in the next immediate price runup.
For retail investors of the traditional variety, ETFs present a nice way to hedge against risk without the bother of housing the commodity. ETFs are, then, custodial arrangements, repackaged. A fund is created and shares of the fund are sold. It has been a clever way to invest for many retail users.
Proposals for a bitcoin variation would essentially involve something similar: it will have a manager who will offer a fund of bitcoin, which will be sold like shares, stocks; essentially a reserve, shares will be sold as they might traditionally through a standard brokerage account. It’s a custodial reserve system, where investors do not actually hold bitcoin.
Excitement over ETFs in the Bitcoin community stems from the impact they had on gold prices a few
