May. 11, 2022
Dear SEC, I am a resident of the state of California. My name is Ron Freeland, I work in the medical field and I'm 56 years old. 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. It's unfathomable to me that we are able to have bitcoin ETFs that use derivatives as the underlying asset, while not having an ETF that actually holds the asset. This is unfair to people who want to own real bitcoin, but do not want to take custody. It also has the potential to increase volatility and decrease price discovery if there are a lot of derivative's diluting and distorting the market. 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. Your consideration of my request is appreciated. Sincerely, Ron Freeland