Feb. 27, 2022
Hello, I am writing in regards to the proposed SEC approval of the conversion of the Grayscale bitcoin fund, GBTC, to an exchange traded fund (ETF). As I am a current investor in the GBTC fund, I want to see the SEC’s approval of the fund become a reality as soon as possible. My reasons are below. First, it seems logical for the SEC to approve the Grayscale petition, as Grayscale holds more Bitcoin assets than any other investment company in the world. In addition, Grayscale holds their bitcoins offline in cold storage, so they can’t be stolen. Second, Bitcoin is a digital commodity which has a limited production of twenty-one million whole units. If gold and silver ETF’s are allowed to be traded in the United States, why can’t there be a Bitcoin ETF? Third, and most importantly, Bitcoin is only available through certain US exchanges that allow for the buying and selling of cryptocurrencies. Consequently, there is a risk of the loss of bitcoin assets on exchanges due to malevolent scammers / computer hackers. One way to eliminate the risk of stolen/hacked bitcoins is to move the private keys of the bitcoins offline to cold storage, such as a hardware wallet. There is also a risk of losing bitcoin assets during the transfer of one’s bitcoin assets to cold storage from an exchange-this occurs if the address one sends their bitcoins to is incorrect. However, there is one solution which will remove all the before-mentioned risks, and the solution is for the SEC to approve a Bitcoin ETF in the United States. If the SEC approves the conversion of the Grayscale GBTC fund to a Bitcoin ETF, then future investors of the Bitcoin ETF would not have the burden of having to worry about their assets being stolen from an exchange nor would they have to custody their bitcoins on a hardware wallet or other form of cold storage. Thank you for your consideration. Best Regards, Roger A. Black