The battle for spot bitcoin ETFs in the US

This week brought news on what the firm involved, Grayscale, called ‘a monumental step forward for American investors, the bitcoin ecosystem, and all those who have been advocating for bitcoin exposure through the added protections of the ETF wrapper.’

The US Court of Appeals ruled in favour of Grayscale’s lawsuit challenging the SEC’s decision to deny the conversion of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) to an ETF. Described as a huge and major victory by a number of observers, the interesting thing for me was what it did to the price of bitcoin, which behaved just like a currency (gasp) and rallied as high as USD28,000. In addition, GBTC’s discount narrowed from about 25 per cent to 16 per cent.

Watch this space for more news on what Grayscale will do next.

Our interview this week was cheekily entitled ‘Hector McNeil: Yorkshire’s leading ETF supporter’ and was an interview with one of the few people in the ETF industry who needs no company name to remind you of who he is – or, indeed, where he’s from. Read the piece and find some admissions of vulnerability. "The competitiveness, teamwork and aggression of sport coupled with me being a Yorkshire man is a unique mix that has given me an edge," McNeil says.

"It’s a great thing but did hold me back earlier in my career as I expect the same high standards of people I work with and a pace which not everyone can offer, and I have learnt to temper that over the years. Everyone is different so my expectations need to reflect that and, since Covid, people’s outlooks and motivations have changed. Empathy is key to a lot of ways to motivate people today. It’s a hard skill to learn if it’s not natural to you."

What is natural to him is launching ETFs and, over his career, McNeil, with his close partner Nik Bienkowski, has launched some 650 ETPs, and estimates that number represents 8 per cent of every ETP on the planet – the mere fact that he has calculated this demonstrates his attention to detail and desire to win.

Talking about winning - voting is now open for the ETF Express US Awards 2023 and we have had quite the flurry of interest on social media and in terms of voting numbers. The US ETF service provider and ETF issuer firms with the most votes win so keep it up – voting closes on 15th September.

To place your votes please click here.

Beverly Chandler, Managing Editor

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