US spot ETFs are the talk of the town these days, and there's no denying they're a major driver of market liquidity. While I find the topic intriguing, I also have mixed feelings about it.
On the one hand, it's great to see Bitcoin getting more attention and attracting new investors. However, seeing these colossal numbers also raises concerns about large institutions gaining a significant share of the pie.
I'd love to hear from stackers about the pros and cons of these developments. What are the potential implications for the future that we should be aware of?
I am more concerned about the fact they are almost all custodying with Coinbase. Yikes.
Yes, this could be a problem. I also don't like the idea of putting all our eggs in one basket. This will increase the risk of attacks on Coinbase.
This is news to me. Can Coinbase use those Bitcoins for other purposes? Or are you concerned about something else entirely?
No they can't use them for other purposes, at least not legally, but it's a lot of Bitcoin in one highly regulated entity that the government wields a lot of power over.
4% and the value is up 60%. Again!
Bitcoin isn't proof of stake and I would enjoy selling their fork to stack more.
Bitcoiners will be tested. Its hard holding through bear markets, but it might be even harder when the price goes beyond their expectations.
If we all sell to these massive institutions there's no point to have bitcoin!
I'm confident most of us understand this though.
I couldn't agree more. They don't take my btc ... ahahhaah
Yeah, you couldn't be more right with this claim!
Maybe it's only the greed in bulls which can beat fear in bears...
People are so lazy to write down 24 words they give their money to someone else who buys Bitcoin for himself. Sad
I can't fathom what sort of idiots just want to park their spare million on obscure risky assets instead of letting a certified professional handle it. Blind faith and money laundering. https://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=23247612&cid=64291186
very sad, indeed.
This is true. But there is another angle that I'm frankly disappointed in so called smart bitcoiners ignoring. So I'll explain it here.
There is a ton of money, fiat money that is in tax advantaged accounts in the US. This is money that can only be withdrawn to acquire bitcoin at a great lose in taxes to the state. There is an exception. In some cases it could be moved to an IRA with Unchained Capital. They will provide support and you can move this money into bitcoin where you hold your own keys in a multi-sig. However, this is not something most people are aware of. And, it isn't possible for some that have their money in fiat retirement systems.
So, the ETFs like buying Micro Strategy is a proxy. Its a better option than stocks as it does track the price of bitcoin. I don't know how much of this ETF money is coming from people that are writing checks and depositing it into their brokerage accounts but I know it can't be 100%. IMO that would be stupid. But if you have a pension or fiat locked into a retirement plan that the gov already has control over I would be hard pressed to say it is dumb to put some in an ETF.
The sheer convenience of exposure to Bitcoin via an etf may detract from the ‘ideal’ p2p way of using it.
Perhaps Bitcoin will be neutralised/weakened via the etfs the way gold was even if there is an initial positive impact on the fiat price.
I’ve seen chatter that Fink and friends may attempt a hard fork once they have acquired a large holding - see this article (even though Guy Swann has analysed and debunked it):
https://achimwarner.medium.com/bitcoin-is-dead-long-live-ibit-e420b99eb32e
Thanks for sharing the article! It's a bit long, so I'll bookmark it for later.
Hard fork between compliant and non compliant bitcoin? Good luck with that. Fink going to rekt Blackrock
At least we are aware where the BTC is. Give it another 10 to 15 years until we figure out how much of the supply is actually lost. We might end up realizing that their percentage is larger than 4%!
There is nothing to worriy about imho, just because Bitcoin is proof of work and not proof of stake. It doesn't matter how much bitcoins they accumulate they cannot change the rules of Bitcoin.
I don't see any problems at the moment, but I'm not one to underestimate the power of these institutions. We must be vigilant.
All I see is paper… that’s not what this is about. It’s about keys!
Yes, paper bitcoin. I don't see any problems at the moment, but I'm one of those people who doesn't underestimate the power of these institutions. We need to be vigilant.
Don’t get me wrong, it will help the Bitcoin network become more valuable. Just remember many of us me included lost paper sats. I staked with Gemini and haven’t gotten those back in 1.5 years so far. Bit to start ETF or no exposure. ETF is likely better than no exposure.
I see your point. I think Bitcoin is for anyone who wants to use it, but someone having a large share is a situation to be vigilant about.
Great point, I see yours too!
It will grow and grow and grow until the rent comes due, and when an ETF gets rugged, and mark my words one will, be that a hack, internal stuff up, disgruntle employee, or just a key management mistake and people will see that theres no free ride in bitcoin
I just learned that Coinbase holds the majority of custody, and what you mentioned is concerning because it's certain that they will be the target of more attack attempts. Do you know the level of security at Coinbase?
By the time it gets to 51 percent then the necessity for decentralization might have just been lost
4% ahhhmmm that's fine. I am worried how many regular P2P people have left Bitcoin for ETF?
I wonder if the on-chain numbers for Bitcoin are increasing or decreasing?
These are worrying signs because it's getting more Nd more centralized now which is against the notion of Bitcoin.
That would make a good post.
Concerns? What are you afraid of, number up? Because that is all that etfs do for hodlers.
It scares me that large institutions are accumulating a large share of Bitcoin. I have this idea that Bitcoin could be taken over by whales. It's not a concern yet, but it could become one in the future. That's what I'm talking about.
Oh man.. the "whales".. I've heard that since I was in bitcoin. Why does a "whale" scare you?
It may not be a concern yet, but it could become a problem if whales acquire a large share of the pie. If this happens, it could become impossible for ordinary people to buy or use Bitcoin. I don't underestimate their power.
Man, I've heard this since 10k at least.. bitcoin could do 1000x and you'd still get more than one satoshi per dollar.
It's undeniable that we still have several decimal places, to say the least! Ahahahah
Losers... The thing is not who owns more BTC. The important thing is what people DO with their BTC. If you still calculate your "store of value" in fiat (USD), you are still the same fucking SLAVE. You will NEVER learn the lesson.
Old habits are hard to break, but we can do it!
That's precisely why I'm asking, what can these large institutions do with the bitcoins they have in custody?
"in kind" funding and redemption was initially part of the proposal but was killed by SEC insistence.
However (a) change in administration will yield a different head of SEC, and (b) as enough people accumulate ETF-BTC there will become more pressure to allow "in kind" transactions....thus it seems pretty likely that eventually these ETFs become pretty good on-boarding mechanisms in the long-term.
They will do nothing. Will just print more shitcoins... And people will still be enslaved.
Are you saying that they can't do anything, or is that just your opinion?
Join me on Athena network to create a group for mining.
https://athene.network/
https://m.stacker.news/19536
Join me on Athena network to create a group for mining.
https://athene.network/
ab712b996bb8 My code