Apr. 27, 2022
Dear SEC I am writing to you in support of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust attempt to convert to a spot ETF. I am 79 years old and a lifelong investor and trader. It has been a numbing experience observing your agency's steadfast refusal to grant U.S. investors an ETF—an instrument that has been successfully managed in Canada and several other countries. Your claimed reason for these continued denials is "investor protection." Of course you know that is laughable as the futures based ETF which you have allowed is sure to be financially deleterious to those same investors you claim are being protected by you. I would challenge you to show a single study that would support your position—you know very well that futures based ETFs have always been plagued by higher management fees and, even more important, the"slippage" that often occurs when trading the underlying contracts. It is a losing proposition for long term investors. Of course it appears to a fair number of observers that there is an unspoken reason for your continued disapproval of these ETFs which have been submitted by extremely reputable companies. That reason is perhaps your leadership is still too close to their former Wall Street colleagues with whom they have profited handsomely over the decades. This is not your shining moment. You could do much better. Alan Geik