February 18, 2022
The continued resistance from the SEC to approve a bitcoin ETF became unreasonable a long time ago. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are legally traded by private individuals in the United States and have been for more than a decade. I personally have bought, sold, and paid taxes on bitcoin during this time. I am a law abiding and proud US citizen, and the SEC's inaction in providing regulatory clarity for cryptocurrencies has directly and negatively affected my financial well being. Bitcoin is not going away, and the SEC is not going to wrest control of it from the decentralized free market that defines it. It's unique properties and philosophical foundation make it the 'most American' financial instrument I have ever seen. Continued failure by our government to recognize this and react appropriately (read: back off and allow the free market to be free) will only serve to gift the benefits that cryptocurrency provides to other countries. GBTC is literally already held in the retirement accounts of thousands (hundreds of thousands?) of Americans. They operate legally in a complicated bureaucratic landscape, and in doing so have hugely benefited those many thousands of investors. Just let them convert to an ETF. Waiting longer won't help anyone, and will only hurt law abiding citizens. And don't just approve theirs - approve the application of every organization capable of operating an ETF.