Jul. 21, 2018
Dear Sirs / Madams,
Bitcoin is arguably the most secure, permission-less and trustless cryptocurrency that runs on a distributed and transparent public ledger. It has all the hallmarks of being a medium of exchange as well as a store of value. It is a matter of enriching debate at this point whether it should be considered a technology, medium of exchange or an asset but remarkable to say that it demonstrates qualities of all of these.
It is in the fitness of things that access to such a crypto token be made as simple as possible so that maximum number of people have the opportunity to make an informed investment if they deem fit. Although Bitcoin is designed to be a peer to peer coin that can be held in personal electronic wallets, lack of universality of technological literacy means that a sizeable proportion of the population will struggle to have access to Bitcoin even if they find the idea of Bitcoin compelling. To this end, I submit that a Bitcoin ETF will make it possible for a wider segment of the investing populace to have comfort in accessing bitcoin as an investment even if lack of technical understanding would have prevented them from holding bitcoin directly in the way it was intended.
In other words, a Bitcoin ETF would make ownership of bitcoin possible for a wider segment of society (should they desire so) as opposed to the current situation where more technologically savvy users have an inherent advantage. By all means, the risks of investing in cryptocurrencies and associated instruments (such as ETFs holding bitcoin) should be highlighted and explained but nonetheless it remains the case that opening up the possibility of investment exposure to Bitcoin without being held back by lack of tech-savviness, can only be a good thing.
I therefore opine strongly in favour of the proposed Bitcoin ETF.
Thank you
Ashutosh Joshi