Grayscale CEO sees spot bitcoin ETF as first step in the direction of ‘normalizing’ crypto

It’s been an extended street for spot bitcoin ETF filers – and immediately the U.S. Securities and Trade Fee finally approved all 11 standing purposes from issuers.

“I’ve known for 10 years that this was going to happen,” Michael Sonnenshein, CEO of Grayscale Investments, mentioned on TechCrunch’s Chain Response podcast. “We always knew the investor sentiment would get there, regulators would get there and the financial advisor community would get there.”

Grayscale, a digital asset funding agency that was one of many 11 companies to file for a bitcoin spot ETF, is finest identified for its Grayscale Bitcoin Belief (GBTC), which has now been transformed, or “uplisted,” into its new bitcoin spot ETF product.

The ten different issuers are BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Belief, ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF, Bitwise Bitcoin ETP Belief, WisdomTree Bitcoin Fund, Constancy Smart Origin Bitcoin Belief, VanEck Bitcoin Belief, Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF, Valkyrie Bitcoin Fund, Hashdex Bitcoin ETF and Franklin Bitcoin ETF.

Prior to now, the one crypto-focused ETFs within the U.S. have been tied to futures contracts for bitcoin and ethereum. Spot-focused crypto ETFs purport to permit buyers and establishments alike to spend money on crypto asset by a wrapper. When an investor buys shares in a spot-based ETF, they’re shopping for shares of the fund that owns that asset (for instance, BlackRock) as a substitute of immediately proudly owning it, giving buyers a regulated layer of safety.

Whereas futures ETFs marked an enormous milestone in 2021, Sonnenshein believes essentially the most vital one which introduced these bitcoin spot ETF approvals was the D.C. Circuit Courtroom of Appeals’ ruling in favor of Grayscale towards the U.S. Securities and Trade Commision within the case of a bitcoin spot ETF within the Summer time of 2023.

Whereas that call vacated the SEC’s earlier denial order of “uplifting” GBTC into an ETF, Sonnenshein thinks “it was a moment not only a validation for us as an asset manager, but for the industry as a whole…that was really the catalyst that broke the logjam.”

Going into the bitcoin spot ETF approvals, there was plenty of pent up demand, Sonnenshein mentioned. “Many industry watchers and observers, particularly around the financial advisor market realized, even just here in the U.S. alone, there is about $30 trillion worth of advised wealth.”