Spot bitcoin ETF: Why people may not be rushing in to buy

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The SEC's highly anticipated decision on whether to approve a spot bitcoin ETF will not be a dam-breaking moment for crypto, Valkyrie Funds CIO Steven McClurg told Yahoo Finance Live.

"We launched a bitcoin futures ETF two years ago and we saw a dam break at that point in time, where about $1.5 billion flowed into bitcoin ETFs, or bitcoin futures ETFs," McClurg explained. "I don't think it's going to be a dam-breaking moment like it was then. This is going to be a lot slower... we will probably see about $10 to $25 billion over the course of a year or two."

Valkyrie Investments — one of the prospective issuers of a spot bitcoin ETF — waived its fees for 3 months, in an effort to make its product more attractive to investors.

The price of bitcoin has soared in anticipation of an approval from the SEC, climbing more than 50% in the last six months to over $46,000 on Wednesday.

For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Yahoo Finance Live.

Editor's note: This article was written by Nicholas Jacobino.

Video Transcript

SEANA SMITH: Valkyrie is one of about a dozen prospective spot Bitcoin ETF issuers awaiting today's highly-anticipated announcement. And we want to bring in Steven McClurg, he is the Valkyrie fund's chief investment officer. Steven, it's great to have you here on set on such a big day here for the industry. Just walk us through what's gone through your mind over the last 18 hours and if it has at all changed your outlook on what you expect to hear from the SEC today.

- Yeah, look, I still believe that we're going to hear positive news this afternoon after the market closes. I still expect a launch tomorrow. I still assign it probably a little bit over 95% because anything could happen.

Julie mentioned a really good point in that this hack on the SEC actually wasn't a hack. It was sim swap, which is a pretty common thing that could happen to almost anyone. And that's why really important security measures need to be put in place, not just for individuals, but also for firms that are trading Bitcoin.

BRAD SMITH: So is this a dam-breaking type of moment when you think of the number of people who have already figured out one way or another to take on risk within their portfolio via cryptocurrency or something else out there? Are people just going to flow into Bitcoin now just because there's an ETF? And what is your anticipation once we finally do get these approvals?

STEVEN MCCLURG: Yeah, I actually don't think that people are just going to FOMO in today, and tomorrow, and over the week. A lot of the people that want to invest in Bitcoin have already done it. The ETF gives an additional vehicle in order to do so.

We launched a Bitcoin futures ETF two years ago. And we saw kind of a dam break at that point in time where about a billion and a half dollars went into Bitcoin ETFs-- or Bitcoin futures ETFs in a period of about three days and we received a large flow of that. I don't think it's going to be a dam-breaking moment like it was then. I think this is going to be a lot slower and we probably see about $10 to $25 billion over the course of a year or two.

SEANA SMITH: Steven, walk us through the fee war part of it because we certainly have seen a fee war breaking out. You are taking a strategy here waiving the fee for the first three months, I believe. Just walk us through your strategy and how you plan to stand out amongst what is turning out to be a pretty crowded field.

STEVEN MCCLURG: Yeah, absolutely. And by the way, I don't think the fee wars are over. I don't think that we've fully announced what we're going to do yet. But a fee waiver in the first three months is pretty common and something that we've anticipated.

When it comes to fees, I think there's competitive. But at the same time this isn't like a typical index ETF that you see where it's a very simple product, you're buying ETFs, it's passive, you're holding it at a simple custodian. No, this actually takes a little bit more because you're dealing in Bitcoin. You've got two custodians. For us, we use US Bank and we use Coinbase.

So you have to not only take in cash, but you have to buy Bitcoin. You've got to transfer it over to Coinbase. So there's a lot of cybersecurity measures that you have to take.

If your fees are too low, then that means that you probably aren't taking adequate security measures. So we're really focused on the security, the trading side of things. We're not going to be the lowest, but we are going to be competitive.

BRAD SMITH: And said you haven't announced it yet. Are you considering or at least thinking about then a waiver up front?

STEVEN MCCLURG: We've already announced the waiver of three months--

BRAD SMITH: OK.

STEVEN MCCLURG: --but we'll announce later today if we make any changes to our long-term fees.

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