What Bitcoin Spot ETF Means

The hope elated to the approval of Bitcoin (BTC) spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) riased cryptocurrency market in the second of this year.

The cryptocurrency market heated up with signs that the door to approving Bitcoin spot ETFs, which had been firmly closed for years, would finally open. However, there are many interpretations on how the Bitcoin spot ETF, which has heated up the market, will change the value of Bitcoin, a key asset.

# BlackRock Is Undefeated in ETF Applications, which Raised the Market Sharly

BlackRock sparked the expectations of market for Bitcoin spot ETF approval. BlackRock, the world's largest asset management company in name and reality, was close to 'undefeated', and when BlackRock applied for a Bitcoin ETF, people inside and outside the market began to interpret that "it's finally the time to get Bitcoin spot ETF in market."

Although the news of BlackRock's application revealed through the media was only the tip of the iceberg, it was quite different from the existing applications. It added a clause in the 'SSA - Surveillance Sharing Agreement' that stated the prevention of the market manipulation on the spot price of bitcoin followed by the spot ETF.

BlackRock filled out and submitted the application as if they knew the answer in advance, and a number of asset managers who had challenged Bitcoin spot ETFs, including Ark Invest, started to fix their the document by referring to BlackRock's application.

In late October, after BlackRock's Bitcoin trust product ticker was listed on the U.S. Central Securities Depository's (DTCC) listing list, another ticker reminiscent of a bitcoin spot ETF was listed. The series of incidents have led to a flurry of interpretations from the market that Bitcoin spot ETFs are virtually set to be approved.

Currently, the approval of Bitcoin spot ETFs is interpreted as a fait accompli both from the market, and various predictions are being made about when the SEC will sign the seal of approval. Naturally, Bitcoin, a key follow-up asset of ETFs, has been receiving hot attention from entire asset market .

What does Bitcoin spot ETF mean by approval and what ramifications will it have?

# Bitcoin Is Evolving Into a Financial Product Without the Stigma of Fraud and Falsehood

The approval and launch of Bitcoin spot ETFs means the financial commercialization of Bitcoin. In other words, Bitcoin is being recognized as a full-fledged financial product by global financial institutions and appears in the world.

In fact, when Bitcoin first appeared in the world 15 years ago, it was told that it was only 'digital currency' whose substance was unclear. The label that always followed Bitcoin like a stigma was also 'fraud' or 'false'.

There were many people who criticized it by saying, "Don't invest in fiction without substance" and "The value of Bitcoin will converge to zero." However, when the ETF is released, Bitcoin can dispel all the stigma.

The asset market will undergo a major transformation when BlackRock, which has 10 trillion dollars in operating funds alone, and other leading U.S. asset managers launch financial products based on bitcoin spot.

Bitcoin after the launch of the spot ETF will stand on the same line as many assets that have already appeared in the form of ETFs in the asset market, including gold and crude oil. In other words, it will be reborn as a 'visible asset' with a certain value.

If the Bitcoin spot ETF is approved, it is estimated that the funds that will flow into the Bitcoin spot ETF will also be enormous, as many asset managers are expected to release plausible Bitcoin spot ETFs on the market.

Matt Heughan, general manager of investment in Bitwise, estimated that funds that will flow into Bitcoin spot ETFs with the emergence of Bitcoin spot ETFs will be about $50 billion over the next five years. Considering that the total amount of funds flowed into the U.S. ETF market is $7 trillion, it is calculated that about $70 billion of funds will flow into Bitcoin spot ETFs even if they succeed in attracting about 1% of funds.

Tom Lee, founder of U.S. Wall Street market research firm Fundstrat, expressed a more open opinion. In the current situation, where macroeconomic risks, including high inflation, are prevalent, Bitcoin's value as an 'hedging asset' and the stability of global asset managers meet, claiming that $100 million in daily funds will flow into Bitcoin spot ETFs.

As such, many experts are predicting that a huge amount of money will flow into the Bitcoin spot ETFs.

# Arthur Hayes's Eerie Warning Amid Golden Prospects

While cryptocurrency investors are in a 'sweet dream' due to expectations of approving Bitcoin spot ETFs, Bitmex CEO Arthur Hayes left a rather eerie comment.

Arthur Hayes, who was interviewed on the On the Margin podcast on the 8th, left a comment that the Bitcoin spot ETF would eventually kill the value of Bitcoin's existence.

Arthur Hayes pointed out that Bitcoin and Bitcoin spot ETFs are linked to each other, but they have opposite characteristics, and pointed out that Bitcoin spot ETFs will make Bitcoin's advantages disappeared.

Pointing out the Bitcoin's original intention and value are decentralized currency, he said. "When Bitcoin spot ETFs are released, Bitcoin will become a financial product released by a number of asset managers, including BlackRock."

"The reality of companies such as BlackRock is the agent of the country, and if the bitcoin spot ETFs they launch become very popular, Bitcoin will lose its actual utility and value," he pointed out.

He criticized the financial commercialization of bitcoin due to the spot ETF of bitcoin and the loss of value of bitcoin as a decentralized currency.

In an interview, Arthur Hayes predicted the phenomenon of bitcoin monopolization due to bitcoin spot ETFs.

"BlackRock is already the largest shareholder of some bitcoin mining companies, and if bitcoin spot ETFs become very popular, asset managers with large funds could devour the bitcoin mining industry, which could lead to a situation where they can control the decentralization of bitcoin," he explained.

He pointed out that the central control of Bitcoin will eventually lose the intrinsic value of Bitcoin, a decentralized currency.

At the end of the interview, Arthur Hayes said, "Inflation and other phenomena occur because the government issued a lot of money, and a limited amount of Bitcoin can play a good role as a hedging asset in this situation," adding, "But if Bitcoin also becomes a financial product and is under central control, Bitcoin will not be able to play its original role."

# Bitcoin Spot ETFs Follow the History of the Monetary System

As Arthur Hayes pointed out, Bitcoin's intrinsic value was decentralized currency. The thesis os clearly stated in the Bitcoin White Paper. The Bitcoin White Paper clearly stated that Bitcoin is the currency for trading, describing the phrase, "If there is no third party to guarantee the transaction, we present a solution using the P2P network."

Unlike Bitcoin, Bitcoin spot ETFs are financial instruments, not currency. Buyers of bitcoin spot ETFs do not have to own bitcoin directly. It is not established with the formula that the person who wants to make a transaction holds a specific currency to make a transaction. Bitcoin spot ETF refers to bitcoin as a financial product instead of bitcoin as a currency.

Ironically, however, the Bitcoin spot ETF still has the conditions as a currency shown by human history.

There has been an absolute rule in the monetary system in human history. Those who designed the currency system created a 'paradigm' that they could control by using a limited amount of assets.

In particular, the empire, which has strong power, possessed a limited number of assets exclusively and issued nearly infinite currencies based on the assets. The currency thus issued was guaranteed the value as a currency wherever the power of the empire was within reach. The gold coins of Rome, the coins of China, and the gold standard dollar are good examples.

For years, bitcoin spot ETFs have not appeared on the market. However, with the bear market continuing for more than a year due to all kinds of bad news such as the 'Luna crisis' and the 'FTX crisis', BlackRock knocked on the door of the Bitcoin spot ETF, and now there are signs that the door will open.

It is obvious that BlackRock has bought Bitcoin for years to launch a spot ETF in Bitcoin.

BlackRock's cryptocurrency-related investment, which was somewhat calm but clearly progressed in the first half of 2022 and 2023, and the additional news of Bitcoin within BlackRock's own fund options, and BlackRock's stock purchase of Bitcoin brokers are the evidences that can indirectly examine BlackRock's Bitcoin purchase.

In the first week of November, when approval of Bitcoin spot ETFs seemed imminent, on-chain analysis platform Glassnode reported a decline in Bitcoin's market supply and a monopoly by a small number of newly supplied supplies.

Glassnode stressed "Groups with more than 10 bitcoins are at their highest level since July this year, and they are taking about 92% of the volume supplied to the market now."

Bitcoin, designed with a limited quantity of 21 million, has gone through a long bear market and most of the current new volume continues to be taken by someone. Under such circumstances, the Bitcoin spot ETFs may begin. The question of who will be the one smiling at the end is growing

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