Billions of dollars flowed into U.S. spot Bitcoin
BTC

$40,838
exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the first week of trading. But despite their immense popularity, some crypto executives claim these instruments violate the ideals crypto was built on.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved multiple spot Bitcoin ETFs for the first time on Jan. 10, and they began trading on Jan. 11. Trading activity showed that there was enormous pent-up demand for these products, as they experienced $10 billion in trading volume over the first seven days. In addition, the Bitcoin ETF market saw over $782 million of net inflows of capital in just the first two days of trading.
But despite the proven popularity of these financial instruments, some executives at crypto companies are urging caution, claiming that ETFs may lead to greater centralization in the crypto industry and will not be needed in the future anyway.
Cointelegraph spoke to Andy Bromberg, CEO of wallet developer Eco, who claimed that ETFs could give traditional financial institutions excessive influence over the market. “You are in fact, when you buy into one of these Bitcoin ETFs, giving Wall Street money to buy Bitcoin with, [and] they own the Bitcoin and you own a piece of paper that says you have a share in this,” Bromberg stated. He claimed this was “stepping away from the ideals” that Bitcoin was founded upon
