The US Securities and Exchange Commission’s decision to approve exchange-traded funds that invest directly in Bitcoin will likely bring a new wave of investors to the oldest and biggest cryptocurrency. ETFs have become an enormously popular way for Americans to invest their money in equities, bonds, commodities, currencies and real estate. Once spot Bitcoin ETFs are available from the likes of Fidelity Investments and the world’s biggest asset manager, BlackRock Inc., they’re expected to attract people who kept crypto at arm’s length until now.
ETFs, a $7 trillion industry, invest in or replicate the performance of a basket of assets or index. Buying shares in an ETF is easy, as they publicly trade on an exchange all day. The newly approved spot Bitcoin ETFs will actually hold Bitcoin, in contrast with existing products that invest in Bitcoin futures — contracts to buy or sell an asset at a specified price at a later date. The SEC had rejected spot Bitcoin ETFs for the last decade.
