BTC, ETFs: why they matter and, strangely, is the SEC doing investors more harm than good?

An exchange-traded fund (ETF) functions in a similar to a mutual fund, pooling investments from multiple investors. But, unlike mutual funds, ETFs are tradable on stock exchanges similar to regular stocks and debt instruments. Pursuant to Statista: “There were 8,754 ETFs globally in 2022, compared to 276 in 2003. As of 2022, ETFs worldwide managed assets up to almost 10 trillion U.S. dollars.” And, according to CNBC in the US, the first ETF was launched in 2003 and now has 29.6% market share of savers’ funds.

ETFs can vary widely, tracking anything from individual commodity prices to diverse portfolios, indices or specific investment strategies. “Anything” changed to “except cryptocurrency” when, in 2014, the SEC turned down the ETF proposal for Bitcoin filed by the Winklevoss twins and many other entities. In 2021, over twelve applications were received by the SEC but the same 2018 answers were given to them. The SEC was concerned about the low liquidity, market manipulation forces an…