Jun. 29, 2022
To Whom It May Concern: I am writing today to add my voice to that of over 11,000 other investors who support the conversion of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) to an ETF. United States investors want and need access to a spot-based bitcoin ETF. The demand for bitcoin investment vehicles was plainly seen in October 2021 when the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) surpassed the record previously held by SPDR Gold Shares ETF (GLD) to become the first ETF to reach $1 billion AUM in just two days. A futures-based bitcoin ETF is a step in the right direction but as you know has serious issues including the contango bleed and high fees. Since it's launch of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust in 2013, Grayscale has proven that it has a secure custody model for its bitcoin. I firmly believe that bitcoin and GBTC will continue to grow in popularity as more digital natives come of age and wish to invest in digital assets. I live in California with my family and we own GBTC in our IRA and HSA accounts. It's surprising and unfortunately that GBTC is currently trading at a significant discount to its NAV and I trust the SEC will approve this application to convert GBTC into an ETF so that the discount will be eliminated and we can see the true reflection of the value of the bitcoin held in GBTC. Bitcoin does have significant short-term volatility as the emerging asset capitalizes, but as a long-term thinker and investor, I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to invest in GBTC to gain exposure to bitcoin in my investment accounts. The next step is to convert GBTC to an ETF in order to allow the public to invest in a spot-based ETF with lower fees and no contango issues, and to ensure that the discount is eliminated. Thank you for your consideration. Sean Johnson