投資者大力推動購買比特幣而不必購買數字貨幣。類似期貨一類的產品，在去年12月初抵達時，比特幣上漲至20,000美元。
然而，對投資者提供的最大獎勵 - 主要是制度化品種，仍然持有比特幣的懷疑 - 是一個交易所交易基金（ETF）。從Winklevoss雙胞胎2017年3月的首次嘗試開始，透過美國證券交易委員會（SEC）一直試圖讓比特幣ETF暫時擱置一段時間。
與此同時，一款名為Bitcoin Tracker One的產品自2015年起在斯德哥爾摩納斯達克交易所進行交易，提供所謂的交易所交易票據（ETN），本週突然以美元報價。
ETN被認為是許多人追逐的比特幣ETF的“軟”替代品，但即使採取這一舉措，美國的受眾也可以訪問它，與其國家的法規和美國證券交易委員會（SEC）分開），市場上沒有多少動靜。
看來，即使有購買ETN的選擇，美國投資者 - 華爾街資金 - 也不會買賬。市場並不令人興奮 - 這個市場因將新聞視為上下行動的催化劑而臭名昭著。這可能與這個ETN不是ETF這一事實有關，但也可能是重度看跌情緒。
為何選擇ETN或ETF？
由於投資者不擁有實際商品，這些產品允許投資相對安全的比特幣，受到許多人的高度讚揚，但他們也有批評者。
ETF是一種可銷售的證券，可追蹤基金指數，商品或一籃子資產 - 在這種情況下，資產是比特幣。那麼，如果美國證券交易委員會允許比特幣ETF，會發生什麼呢？該基金會購買相關數量的實際比特幣並將這些資金分配到股票中，然後分配給股東。
因此，對於一直將ETF用於其他資產和商品的機構投資者而言，它們使得它更加舒適和熟悉，這可能就是為什麼許多人認為它可能是比特幣領域的大量資金進入的一個重要切入點。
一個ETN，在另一方面-被看作是一個“軟” ETF -由其發行人支援，如銀行，而不是資產池。通常，他們專注於那些不易在基金上使用的的深奧策略。
關於加密貨幣生態系統中是否需要這些型別產品的有趣辯論往往被空間的廣泛和無所不包的性質所誇大。有交易員，區塊鏈工程師，快速致富型別，加密無政府主義者和加密貨幣純粹主義者，他們都圍繞比特幣和其他加密貨幣運作，並且都有自己的信念。
Andreas Antonopoulos完全反對比特幣ETF的想法，並指出：
“我將打破你的泡沫。我知道很多人都希望看到ETF發生，因為'to theMOON博基尼以及所有這些。[...]我仍然認為它會發生，我只是認為這是一個糟糕的主意。我反對ETF。我認為比特幣ETF將對生態系統造成損害。“
安東諾普洛斯的批評並不是說ETF會導致價格下跌或投資停止。事實上，他接著說：
“每個人都對ETF感到非常興奮，因為我們在其他市場看到的是，當ETF變得可用時 - 正如我們在黃金中看到的那樣 - 價格確實大幅上漲，突然之間，這種商品可供更多投資者使用。而這些投資者依然存在。“
雖然從價格的角度來看，許多人認為ETF是加密市場現在需要的開創者，但Antonopoulos認為引入ETF的真正危險在於其他地方：
“但是，另一方面是，這些商品市場受到嚴重操縱，總是存在這些主張。開放這些ETF只會增加制度化投資者操縱商品價格的能力 - 不僅僅是在他們作為ETF交易的市場上，而且更廣泛地。“
為什麼這個ETN不是市場推動者
考慮到當制度化投資者進入市場時，ETF可能會使商品價格飆升的說法，這個選項的公告 - 即一個能夠以美元交易的ETN - 似乎很奇怪。市場。
人們可以假設ETF的一個較小的，“更安全”的選擇將被搶購併且對於制度化市場而言很受歡迎，但也許這些投資者持有 - 或者仍然過於悲觀。
KKM Financial的創始人兼執行長Jeff Kilburg 解釋說，比特幣及其上下波動性將繼續下去，直到ETF達成決定，甚至ETN也不會有太多發言權。
“我認為會持續波動，但這實際上取決於這個交易所交易基金。[...]這些長期看漲的買家必須明白，人們將能夠在全球範圍內獲得交易所交易的產品，並且如果有的話 - 我們確實會得到一些絕對的決定，即它即將到來[...]今年秋天 - 然後我認為反彈仍在繼續。“
基爾堡對ETF在市場上的實力顯然持樂觀態度，全球投資市場巨頭薩斯奎漢納國際集團數字資產部門負責人巴特史密斯也表示樂觀，他說ETN獲得了一些牽引力，但是遠不及ETF的可能性。
“你現在看到的是我們回到了原來的位置。一個月前，我們談論的是爆發，但這是熊市反彈。在我們突破新高之前，人們不會購買。“
史密斯在Kilburn的推理中得出結論，這個ETN並不像潛在的ETF影響那麼大：
“如果受到美國證券交易委員會監管，這一併不像想象中有那麼大的影響。美國的一個ETF會產生更大的影響。但是，如果有一些東西正在推動新的資金投入比特幣的價格，那麼你會想象它的價格會提高。“
ETF聖盃
隨著ETN對美國投資者的開放 - 以及透過一些制度化的交易公司進行的期貨交易 - 比特幣仍未達到新的價格高度。由於美國證券交易委員會繼續考慮各種比特幣ETF的申請，因此對潛在的ETF有很多炒作。
雖然沒有人可以預測比特幣價格的未來以及它對ETF的訊息會如何反應，但大多數人的情緒都很強烈，它將產生重大影響。感覺就是有一大筆錢等待進入比特幣空間，這種空間被非傳統的投資方式所阻礙。如果這個障礙被打破，比特幣是否有可能再次超過20,000美元？
原文：
There has been a big push for investors to be able to buy Bitcoin without actually having to buy the digital currency. Products — such as futures — have entered the market and upon their arrival in early December last year, Bitcoin rallied toward $20,000.
However, the biggest prize on offer for investors — mainly of the institutionalised variety, who are still skeptical about owning Bitcoin — is an exchange-traded fund (ETF). There has been a push, through the SEC, to try and get a Bitcoin ETF in place for some time now, starting with the Winklevoss twins’ first attempt in March 2017.
Meanwhile, a product, called Bitcoin Tracker One, which has been trading on the Nasdaq Stockholm exchange since 2015, offered what is known as an exchange-traded note (ETN), and this week, it was suddenly quoted in dollars.
The ETN is considered a ‘soft’ alternative to the Bitcoin ETF that many are chasing after, but even with this move to make it accessible to an audience in the United States, separate from their country’s regulations and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), there was not much movement in the market.
It seems that, even with the option to buy an ETN, U.S. investors — and the Wall Street money they can bring to Bitcoin — are not biting. There was no excitement in the market — a market notorious for taking news as a catalyst for up-and-down movements. This could have to do with the fact that this ETN is not an ETF, but it could also be the heavy bearish sentiment.
Why an ETN or an ETF?
These products, which allow to invest in Bitcoin with relative safety as investors do not own the actual commodity, have been highly praised by many, but they also have their detractors.
An ETF is a marketable security that tracks either an index of funds, a commodity or a basket of assets — and in this case, the asset is Bitcoin. So, what would happen, should the SEC allow a Bitcoin ETF, is that the fund would purchase an underlying amount of actual Bitcoin and distribute those funds into shares, which are then distributed to shareholders.
Thus, they make it far more comfortable and familiar for the institutional investor who has been using ETFs for other assets and commodities, and this might be why many think it could be a big entry point for a lot of money into the Bitcoin space.
An ETN, on the other hand — seen as a ‘soft’ ETF — is a debt instrument that is backed by its issuers, such as a bank, rather than a pool of assets. Often, they focus on esoteric strategies that don’t easily fit into a fund.
The interesting debate about whether these types of products are needed in the cryptocurrency ecosystem is often exaggerated by the broad and all-encompassing nature of the space. There are traders, blockchain engineers, get-rich-quick types, crypto-anarchists and cryptocurrency purists who are all operating around Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies and all have their own beliefs.
Andreas Antonopoulos is quite against the idea of a Bitcoin ETF, stating:
“I am going to burst your bubble [...] I know a lot of people want to see an ETF happen, because of ‘to the moon’ and Lambos and all of that. [...] I still think it is going to happen, I just think it is a terrible idea. I am against ETFs. I think a Bitcoin ETF is going to be damaging to the ecosystem.”
Antonopoulos’ criticism is not that an ETF would cause prices to drop or investments to stop. In fact, he goes on to state:
“Everybody is so excited about ETFs, because what we have seen in other markets is [that] when an ETF becomes available — as we saw in gold — the price really increases dramatically, as suddenly that commodity becomes available to a lot more investors. And these investors pile on.”
While many see ETFs as the kickstart that the crypto markets need right now from a price point of view, Antonopoulos argues that the real dangers of the introduction of ETFs lie somewhere else:
“But, the other side of it is that there [are] always these claims that these commodities markets are heavily manipulated. And opening up these ETFs only increases the ability of institutionalized investors to manipulate the prices of commodities — not just on the markets where they are traded as an ETF, but also more broadly.”
Why this ETN is not a market-mover
Taking into consideration assertions that ETFs could skyrocket the price of a commodity as institutionalized investors pile into the market, it could seem strange that the announcement of this option — i.e., an ETN that is able to be traded with dollars — brought very little movement in the market.
One could assume that a smaller, ‘safer’ option to an ETF would be snapped up and popular for the institutionalized market, but perhaps these investors are holding out — or are still too bearish.
Jeff Kilburg, the founder and CEO of KKM Financial, explains that Bitcoin and its up-and-down volatility is going to continue until a decision is reached on ETFs and that even the ETN won’t have much say in it all.
“I think there will be continued volatility, but it really is contingent on this exchange-traded fund. [...] These long-term, bullish buyers have to understand that people are going to have access globally to an exchange-traded product and, if that comes in — and we do get some absolute determination that it is coming short-term [...] this fall — then I think the rally continues.”
Kilburg is clearly optimistic about the power an ETF would have on the market, and so is Bart Smith, the head of the digital assets division of the global investment market giant Susquehanna International Group, who says that the ETN has gained some traction, but is nowhere near as explosive as the possibility of an ETF.
“What you are seeing now is that we are right back to where we were. A month ago, we were talking about breaking out, but this is a bear market rally. Until we break to new highs, people are not buying.”
Smith follows in Kilburn's reasoning that this ETN is not as big as a potential ETF would be:
“This is not as big as [it would be] if it was SEC regulated. An ETF in the U.S. — that was SEC registered — would have a much bigger effect. But, if there is something that is driving new money into the price of Bitcoin, then you would imagine it would raise it up.”
The ETF Holy Grail
With an ETN now available to U.S. investors — as well as futures trading possible through a number of institutionalized trading houses — Bitcoin is still not reaching new heights. There is a lot of hype and excitement about a possible ETF, as the SEC continues to mull over a number of applications for various Bitcoin ETFs.
While no one can predict the future of the price of Bitcoin and how it will react to the news of an ETF, the sentiment is strong from most that it will make a big difference. The feeling is that there is a mountain of money waiting to enter the Bitcoin space that is being held back by nontraditional methods of investing. If this barrier is broken down, is it possible Bitcoin will surpass $20,000 again?
