Now that the first spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs are live on U.S. markets, the conversation has begun to shift towards the Ethereum (ETH) ETF applications on the Securities and Exchange Commissions (SEC) docket, which includes a filing by BlackRock.
“I see value in having an Ethereum ETF,” Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, said during an interview with CNBC on Friday morning. “These are just stepping stones towards tokenization and I really do believe this is where we're going to be going. We have the technology to tokenize today.”
The firm filed its application for an iShares Ethereum Trust in November, five months after they filed their spot Bitcoin ETF application.
BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) was among those to launch on Thursday and saw $1.05 billion in trading volume, surpassing the $1 billion first-day volume seen in BITO – the first Bitcoin futures product to launch on U.S. markets.
Addressing the launch of IBIT, Fink said he has become a “big believer” in Bitcoin as an “alternative source for wealth holding.”
"I don't believe it's ever going to be a currency. I believe it's an asset class,” he said. “It’s no different than what gold represented over thousands of years. It is an asset class that protects you. Unlike gold, we’re almost at the ceiling of the amount of Bitcoin that can be created.”
“I think ETFs are step one in the technological revolution in the financial market,” Fink added. “Step two is going to be the tokenization of every financial asset. This is where we believe it’s going. So we are looking at Bitcoin, we’re looking at ETFs in the same manner, these are technological changes that will allow us to move forward.”
As far as IBIT’s first-day performance, Fink said they “were very happy with the flows. It appears that we received about 40% of the flows yesterday.” When asked if the goal was to woo holders of GBTC or attract new investors, Fink said, “Primarily, we’re trying to create an opportunity for new customers to invest in this financial instrument.”
While many were excited about the launch of the first spot Bitcoin ETFs, Senator Elizabeth Warren lambasted the SEC, tweeting the regulator “is wrong on the law and wrong on the policy with respect to the Bitcoin ETF decision.”
“If the SEC is going to let crypto burrow even deeper into our financial system, then it's more urgent than ever that crypto follow basic anti-money laundering rules,” she added.
But several politicians were pleased with the outcome, including House Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry (R-NC) and digital assets subcommittee head French Hill (R-AR).
Thursday’s spot Bitcoin ETF approvals “mark a historic milestone for the future of the digital asset ecosystem in the United States,” said the lawmakers. “While legislation to provide clarity and certainty for digital assets remains necessary, the steps taken today are a significant improvement over the SEC’s track record of regulation by enforcement. We are pleased that investors and our markets will finally be afforded greater access to this generational technology. We remain committed to enhancing consumer protection in the digital asset markets through comprehensive market structure and payment stablecoin legislation.”
And in a surprising development for some, the results of the vote to approve the listing of the spot Bitcoin ETFs show that SEC Chair Gary Gensler made the deciding vote in favor of allowing the products to launch.
?NEW: Turns out the @SECGov DID hold a vote on the $BTC Spot ETFs.
Here’s the voting breakdown:
Gensler: Approved
Peirce: Approved
Uyeda: Approved
Crenshaw: Not Approved
Lizárraga: Not Approved pic.twitter.com/LWcraQpoQF— Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) January 10, 2024
On Friday, Robinhood announced that all 11 spot BTC ETFs are available to trade in both retirement and brokerage accounts.
“We believe crypto is the financial framework of the future and that increased access to Bitcoin via ETFs is a good thing for the industry,” said Johann Kerbrat, GM of Robinhood Crypto. “In addition to offering Bitcoin ETFs, customers who prefer to own Bitcoin themselves can elect to buy it directly through Robinhood Crypto, where they will receive the lowest cost on average and can transfer funds in and out as they wish, if eligible.”
On the opposite end of the spectrum is Vanguard, which announced on Thursday that they would not allow their users to buy the ETFs, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.
“Spot bitcoin ETFs will not be available for purchase on the Vanguard platform,” the company said in a statement. “We also have no plans to offer Vanguard Bitcoin ETFs or other crypto-related products."
The firm added that the products do not align with their "focus on asset classes such as equities, bonds, and cash, which Vanguard views as the building blocks of a well-balanced, long-term investment portfolio.”
