May 23, 2022
Dear SEC, I am Avery Cashion, a 35 year old engineer and scientist, and patriotic American citizen from New Mexico. I would like to add my voice in favor of approving the Form 19b-4 that NYSE Arca filed with you to convert Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (OTCQX: GBTC) – the world’s largest publicly traded crypto asset fund, with approximately $30 billion in AUM, hundreds of millions in daily trading volume, more than 850,000 investors, holding approximately 3.4% of all Bitcoins outstanding – into a Bitcoin Spot ETF. As Chairman Gensler has already demonstrated an understanding of the Bitcoin technology, (I have watched his lectures), I do not feel the need to expand on its value to humanity, nor its embodiment of the ideals of freedom, nor its inevitability as a global technology. This year, GBTC has traded at an approximately 25% discount to its NAV, which means the price of GBTC is less than the price of its underlying assets, Bitcoin. With approximately $30 billion in AUM, that results in approximately $7.5 billion of trapped value from existing U.S. investors. As an American Bitcoin understander and GBTC investor, I have been gravely disappointed in the SEC’s treatment of Bitcoin ETF product proposals. The departure from logic and lack of communication the SEC has shown in these unilateral “no” decisions gives credibility to questions of outsized corruptive influence. Please remember that protection of investors is why the SEC exists; it is not a tool for market manipulation. The United States must not be left behind. Sincerely, Avery Cashion, PhD