Don’t expect crypto ETF momentum to slow after the approvals of spot Bitcoin and Ethereum funds in the United States: Wall Street's “greed” will bring more and more such products, Tether and WAX co-founder William Quigley told Decrypt this week.
Quigley predicted a proliferation of ETFs for other leading cryptocurrencies like Solana and Cardano, driven by Wall Street's relentless pursuit of profit.
“Wall Street is greedy,” he said. “Every time Wall Street packages a new product to sell to consumers, if that product is successful, you can guarantee there will be copycats. There would be no ETFs if the Bitcoin ETF had failed.”
He added that Wall Street loves the “next hot new thing” because it’s something it can talk to its consumers about and sell their products. But should the momentum eventually cool, Quigley expects that ETF providers will shift focus to the next big trend.
“We will continue to see new ETFs launching until there's a big pullback,” he added. “Then, you’ll see some of those ETFs shut down by the firms who launched them due to lack of demand.”
The SEC’s long-awaited approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. in January marked a significant milestone in integrating cryptocurrencies into mainstream financial markets. They allow investors to gain exposure to Bitcoin without directly holding the cryptocurrency, thus providing a more accessible and regulated investment vehicle.
This approval sparked significant interest and investment inflows, highlighting the growing acceptance and institutional interest in digital assets.
The success of the Bitcoin ETF has paved the way for further crypto-related financial products, and the market has been keenly awaiting similar developments for other such products.
The anticipation for Ethereum ETFs has been particularly high, especially following the positive signals from regulatory authorities. The funds received initial approval in late May, but will not start trading until funds’ S-1 registration forms are approved.
SEC Chairman Gary Gensler on Thursday indicated that the approval process for Ethereum ETFs might be completed by the end of the summer.
“Individual issuers are still working through the registration process that's working smoothly, and I envision sometime over the course of the summer,” Gensler said during a Senate hearing Thursday.
TradFi butts in
Despite the added mainstream attention coming with ETFs, Quigley expressed dissatisfaction with the increasing involvement of traditional finance in the crypto space.
"I was happy with crypto without Wall Street,” he said. “Would it be smaller? Of course. But I didn't feel the need to keep growing the size of crypto now.”
He warned that Wall Street's aggressive marketing of crypto products could lead to significant risks, especially if institutional investors pull out during market downturns.
Despite his reservations about Wall Street's involvement, Quigley acknowledged that a significant capital influx is essential for substantial market growth.
"If you want a massive amount of capital, then yes, you have to do things like ETFs," he conceded.
While ETF hype was partially credited with Bitcoin hitting a new all-time high price above $73,700 in March, alongside anticipation for April’s quadrennial halving event, BTC has yet to seriously challenge that mark again in the months since—and is down this week at a current price of just under $67,000.
But Bitcoin’s price typically climbs six months or more after the halving, which constrains the expanding supply, as the impacts of that event start to be felt. Quigley believes that historical patterns will continue along that path as well.
"It can't go higher because it's not the right time," he said, predicting a significant price increase ahead.
Edited by Andrew Hayward
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