Satoshi invented Bitcoin to eliminate the need for banks. He said it many times in many ways, most famously on the first page of The Bitcoin Whitepaper:
What is needed is an electronic payment system based on cryptographic proof instead of trust, allowing any two willing parties to transact directly with each other without the need for a trusted third party.
This has pissed off the bankers for over a decade now. Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan Chase, has famously called bitcoin, “a terrible store of value” and “a decentralized ponzie scheme”.
That’s all about to change this week with the SEC (probably) approving a hand full of spot Bitcoin ETF’s. The banks have finally found a way to sell bitcoin to their clients and profit off the technology designed to replace them - and I think it’s a BIG deal.
For years in crypto we’ve been saying, “the institutions are coming”. It’s our attempt at answering the question, “why is the entire crypto market cap ($1.71T) still less than a single company ($2.82T) on the Nasdaq!?”.
It’s been frustrating, but the reality is that the majority of the world’s value is “trapped” in the traditional financial system which (for some dumb regulatory reason) didn’t have a way to invest in crypto.
Finally, they’ve found a way to subvert the entire purpose of bitcoin, wrap it up in a third party trust system, and offer it to themselves and investors who were too lazy to go down the bitcoin rabbit hole.
Financial markets have long been manipulated, sorry… I mean “regulated” to benefit the wealthy. Only accredited investors can invest in startups and banks get first crack at public shares before they IPO (Initial Public Offering). Bitcoin changed all that.
If you had the will to figure it out, you’ve had over 10 years to front run the banks and invest in bitcoin before they could. As it stands today (January 7th 2024), there are 13 spot Bitcoin ETF’s filed awaiting approval. Some are offered by crypto companies like Bitwise and Galaxy, but others by the BIG banks like Blackrock and Fidelity.
It’s difficult to quantify how much money this means will flow into bitcoin and what impact this will have on the crypto markets at large. For the first time ever, banks are incentivized to see demand for bitcoin:
“Show me the incentive and I will show you the outcome.” - Charlie Munger
What we do know, is that ETFs are traditionally a “winner take all” market. For example, there are dozens of gold ETFs, but $GLD is the only one anyone talks about.
Bitwise announced they have $200M lined up for week one and it’s rumored that Blackrock has over $2 BILLION ready to go. It’s going to be an all out landgrab for that #1 spot. As evidence, Fidelity and Galaxy announced that they’re waving fees for the first 6 months and $5B in assets.
When the $GLD ETF launched back in 2004, the price of gold was ~$400/oz. Within 5 years, it was ~$2,000. Will the same be true for digital gold? I think bigger.
To the moon 🚀 — @GΞR฿Z Creator @ BitLift
The BitLift Podcast
New episode of the podcast dropping Tuesday morning! But I wanted to get this email out before the Bitcoin ETF is (hopefully) greenlit! We're releasing the podcast as video on YouTube now too. Have you seen it?
Reels, Shorts & TikToks
I've been creating/sharing exclusive video just for social (Instagram, TikTok, YouTube). Here's a few recent clips you won't hear or see on the podcast!