May. 10, 2022
Dear SEC, I am a 28 year old Business Systems Analyst out of Columbus, Ohio and I am in favor of approving the Form 19b-4 that NYSE Arca filed with you to convert Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (OTCQX: GBTC) – the world’s largest publicly traded crypto asset fund, with approximately $30 billion in AUM, hundreds of millions in daily trading volume, more than 850,000 investors, holding approximately 3.4% of all Bitcoins outstanding – into a Bitcoin Spot ETF. I think bitcoin, being a decentralized, marginally uncorrelated, asset with large upside potential should be 1-3% of any responsible investors portfolio. The main problem the I face when trying to buy bitcoin is where to do it. I like to have my broker handle the flows in and out of my portfolio (rebalancing, risk management, etc…), so I cannot use a 3rd party exchange like Coinbase or Kraken. It would be incredibly easier if my broker could just buy some exposure in a bitcoin spot ETF and manage it from my normal brokerage account. This year, GBTC has traded at an approximately 25% discount to its NAV, which means the price of GBTC is less than the price of its underlying assets, Bitcoin. With approximately $30 billion in AUM, that results in approximately $7.5 billion of trapped value from existing U.S. investors. Please consider this request. Sincerely, Troy Haren