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Why Crypto Idealogues Won’t Touch Bitcoin ETFs

The arrival of spot bitcoin ETFs in the US offers easy access to the masses. Purists will steer clear.

On January 10, after a farcical false start, the US Securities and Exchange Commission approved the launch of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the country. To explain the dissonance between the celebratory reception to the new ETFs and their blatant incompatibility with the Nakamoto ethos, bitcoiners point to the difficulty in achieving widespread adoption to date. “Americans are probably just going to buy ETF shares and put them in their 401K,” says Mow, because “the average person doesn’t care about financial freedom,” leading to large pools of bitcoin ending up in the custody of institutions.

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