Feb. 26, 2022
Dear SEC, I’m writing to support the conversion of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (Symbol: GBTC), currently the world’s largest Bitcoin fund, to the first Spot Bitcoin ETF in the United States. I’m a firefighter and a 14-year Trustee on a mid-size pension plan. Firefighters and other public employees have limited resources and access to these markets. Many of us have invested a portion of our 457Ks into GBTC to diversify our retirement portfolio. The SEC is failing to protect a large number of the middle class by not approving Grayscale’s application to convert to a spot ETF. To insist that Bitcoin and GBTC is not a safe for many of us to invest in is biased at best. Stocks like FB and ZOOM have suffered significant losses of late, should those stocks be stripped off exchanges. Historically eToys, eFurniture and TASR were allowed to trade on exchanges. OIL was allowed to be traded while crude oil traded at negative prices in 2020. Why were this risk offerings allowed to be traded by the SEC? Bitcoin has an established base of investors and been available to those investors since 2007. Those of us who want small amounts of exposure to Bitcoin via GBTC understand the risk to it and anything else in the market available to us. Middle income earners and public employees simply want the access the top 1% and 0.1% of this nation are afforded by being able to invest in a risk asset which may still have upside, inflation hedge, and alternative asset benefits. I urge the SEC to stop hurting small investors and allow the overall American public access to Bitcoin via the GBTC spot ETF conversion. Sincerely, Frederick Tan Battalion Chief Elected Trustee