Why Some Brokerage Firms Are Blocking Access to Spot Bitcoin ETFs - Ep. 594

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Unless you've been living under a rock, you probably heard that spot Bitcoin ETFs were finally approved by the SEC this week. That set the stage for 11 such offerings from the likes of BlackRock, Fidelity, and ARK 21Shares to begin trading on Thursday. On this episode of Unchained, Nate Geraci, president of the ETF Store; Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence; and James Seyffart, research analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence discussed the initial record trading volumes, the mechanics of how the funds work, the botched roll-out process, the pointed commentary from SEC commissioners, the potential for future Ethereum spot ETFs and predictions for total inflows. Plus, they explain why brokerage firms like Vanguard, Merrill and others were blocking customer access to the ETFs.

Show highlights:

• The initial impact and trading volumes on the launch day of the ETFs
• How BlackRock’s ETF, IBIT, had a lot of volume in pre-market and what that means
• Why Eric was surprised that BlackRock proceeded with a waiver for its ETF, but realized that it was “genius marketing”
• Whether there’s a problem that ETFs don’t trade 24/7, unlike BTC itself
• Why James says the spot ETFs are not going to have significant premiums or discounts to NAV 
• What the percentage premium is and how it will play out with spot Bitcoin ETFs
• Whether the SEC will ever allow in-kind creation and redemption
• Why Nate and Eric believe that the SEC’s denials of spot Bitcoin ETFs for a decade was “completely suboptimal” for retail investors
• How the SEC commissioners pointedly disagreed with each other in their comments and dissents
• The politics of the approval process
• Whether Ethereum spot ETFs will be approved next
• Why some big platforms and brokerages are not offering the spot Bitcoin ETFs
• How RIAs will respond to the ETF and whether there’s going to be mainstream adoption by advisors

Thank you to our sponsors!

• Arbitrum Foundation
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• iTrustCapital

Guests

• James Seyffart, Research analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence
• Previous appearances on Unchained: Why Spot Bitcoin ETFs Are Likely to Finally Start Trading on Thursday
• Why the SEC May Want Cash Creation of Spot Bitcoin ETFs
• Why It Looks Like BlackRock Could Win America’s First Spot Bitcoin ETF
• Why a Spot Bitcoin ETF Will Probably Launch No Later Than January 10
• Eric Balchunas, Senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence
• Previous appearances on Unchained:
• Why Spot Bitcoin ETFs Are Likely to Finally Start Trading on Thursday
• Will a Spot Bitcoin ETF Finally Get Approved?
• Nate Geraci, President of The ETF Store

Links

• Previous coverage of Unchained on spot Bitcoin ETFs:
• The 4 Factors That Will Determine Which Spot Bitcoin ETFs Win Market Share
• How Much Money Will Flow Into Bitcoin ETFs? Here’s One Projection
• The Chopping Block: Are We Back? The ‘Low IQ’ Response to the Potential Spot Bitcoin ETF

Approval:

• Unchained: 
• Spot Bitcoin ETFs Finally Receive SEC Seal of Approval
• What Officials, ETF Issuers, and Others Are Saying About the SEC's Spot Bitcoin ETF Approvals
• Laura Shin’s op-ed on Unchained: Why Spot Bitcoin ETFs Are (But Mostly Aren't) a Big Deal for Crypto
• David Z. Morris’ op-ed on Unchained: The SEC’s Bumbling Bitcoin ETF Rollout Was Perfectly On-Brand

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