You can't hold back the tide. Free people demand free money and simply don't care what government alphabet agency bureaucrats have to say about it.
So, when Gensler succumbs to the fact that his anti-bitcoin world view is over, he decides to explain bitcoin ETFs as if no one knows what they are. He can't bring himself to say "ETF" or "exchange traded fund," but goes with "product" instead. That's okay, admission is the first step.
I don't understand why buying ETF when you can easily buy the real Bitcoin.
I can understand an ETF for oil or some other commodities but a digital commodity? I don't get it.
Owning a Bitcoin ETF, means NOT owning Bitcoin. A Bitcoin ETF goes against the "10 sats commandments" (video that was posted a few minutes ago and I like it) Not your keys not your cheese brother. A Bitcoin ETF is a wound in the hopes of Bitcoin adoption
From a free markets perspective, if there's demand for a BTC ETF then one (or several) should exist. But I personally am hesitant about them for exactly what you laid out above. It's just another potential attack vector for fiat maxis/the state to exert force on BTC. We can look to the precious metals market for similar dynamics.
In the end, I'll tell everyone I know/care about to buy the real thing. I could easily see a bifurcation in the market with financialized fiat versions of BTC on one side (ETFs, futures, etc.) and the real deal on the other. Regulators would most likely then throw a rapidly tightening dragnet around the real thing to either explicitly or subliminally push people into the arena that they control. Overall, I think an ETF would be a very short-term short-sighted win for BTC price, medium to long-term danger. Would be curious to hear what you think.
The market can be kinda stupid in the short term.
No doubt. Personally I'm not in it for the price appreciation in fiat terms; I'm in it for the freedom/liberty tech. People who fixate just on NgU are absolutely missing the bigger picture and ironically fail to see the real value prop.