John Hoffman, Head of Distributor Partnerships at Grayscale Investments, discussed the emergence of Spot Bitcoin ETFs, their performance, and Grayscale’s important role in the crypto market at a recent NYSE Floor Talk event with Judy Shaw.
Spot Bitcoin ETFs represent a combination of two groundbreaking financial innovations, Bitcoin and ETFs. Hoffman highlighted how ETFs have revolutionized investing by simplifying and making it more accessible, while Bitcoin is the world’s leading digital asset with a market capitalization exceeding one trillion dollars.
When asked about his recent performances, Hoffman described a promising trend. Despite a slight initial sell-off following GBTC’s listing, Bitcoin’s price rose from around $48,000 to over $70,000.
Discussing the recent Bitcoin rally, Hoffman attributed it to Bitcoin’s base rarity of only 21 million in existence. He noted that the interplay of supply and demand dynamics is amplified by the new accessibility of Bitcoin investing to a wider range of investors globally.
Hoffman said that they are working on the ETHE product, which they want to turn into a spot ETF:
“Yes, at Grayscale we run the world’s largest Ethereum fund, ticker is ETHE. This is not an ETF. However, we have filed 19 b4 to upgrade this to an ETF, similar to what we did with GBTC. So today we are working with regulators and having active discussions about the product. But it’s still the world’s largest Ethereum fund, and we’ve seen GBTC go. “This is definitely something we’ve been thinking about a lot and talking to our clients about their interest in this fund.”