I came across this article because of my anti bitcoin etf interest (possible obsession.) I was surprised that bitcoin even came up. The comments were neutral to mildly positive about bitcoin. I guess it's not surprising that the author doesn't discuss whether the etfs increased the ability to manipulate the gold price. He is the ultimate industry insider.
Here are the bitcoin comments:
ARE GOLD AND BITCOIN SIMILAR?
Yes, in some ways. They have a near fixed supply, earn no return, are cheap to hold and are not fiat currencies.
WILL GOLD GO MORE ELECTRONIC AND BITCOIN MORE MAINSTREAM?
Yes. They are coming from opposite ends of the spectrum and there will be some convergence and overlapping.
WILL BITCOIN REPLACE GOLD AS A SAFE-HAVEN INVESTMENT?
No. Institutional investors have always wanted allocated gold in their ETFs as it is more secure and they want to be able to see it is there in the vault. It cannot just be wiped out on a computer screen.
WILL BOTH GOLD AND BITCOIN BE SOUGHT AFTER?
Yes, whilst yields remain low to negative and, better still, if interest rates rise and bond prices fall. Maybe a bet on both gold and Bitcoin will work, but for security, a gold ETF for me please.
more secure? #1415905. I wonder how much said investors actually 'see' any gold.
So close yet so far away.
I know. These nuggets are priceless
Eh. I'd consider him an ally at this point.
I'm not disagreeing with the general point, but why raise this issue wrt bitcoin and then contrast it with gold? It was either stupid or disengenuous.
It is funny.
I can do both of these without a trusted third party with bitcoin.
What if all the computers are killed?
DO you really think that level of disaster would not affect how has your gold in vaults for you? You really think that contracts will survive?
Gold has some advantages but they over-sell it and undersell bitcoin IMO.
I think people don't really understand manipulation.
Any actor, state or private can move the needle of price on a good if they have enough market power. Right?
So, with that in mind. How exactly does the ETF pose a threat to bitcoin? It doesn't. Its just a step on the path to bitcoin being accepted vs. stopped. Humans always try to corner markets. The wealthy, the state, and banks will try to do with bitcoin. If they didn't would bitcoin matter? Or would be some obscure LARP?
Am I wrong here.
I'm not making any moral arguments. Just reality. I think the state and most powerful elites/rich are evil and don't want the best for us. But that is the case without bitcoin or ETFs.
I think bitcoiners and liberty minded people need to realize that the real problem is not the state or corporations. Its human kind. We have not evolved beyond these systems. We have failed to realize our potential. Its not a permanent failure. The trap to me is believing that we should just point our fingers at others in these positions of power as if we only need to remove them and all will be well. It won't be. New people would just arise.
Until we as a species realize the mistakes we repeat over and over again we will be doomed to repeat them. I can't fix the species. I can do my best to correct myself though and try to focus on my habits and day to day activities. My family. My circle.
And maybe if I think I can move the needle on something bigger I can do that. But I think we need a lot more humility. A lot more looking in the mirror. And a lot more critical thinking.
Maybe i'm wrong, but ETF's just look like people speculating on the dollar exchange rate with a Coinbase account - which is like 2013 behaviour, isn't it ?
Sure they've got deeper pockets than the 2013's, but they're reactionaries, normies, laggards - they're a decade behind the curve of Bitcoin (they're on the curve though, so still ahead of most others in the world, i suppose).
Maybe the signal being given there is that it's late phase speculation, not ending, but a fading era - and where's Bitcoin going next ? MOE perhaps ?