Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnhenshein says Bitcoin is here to stay, whether big bank executives like Jamie Dimon like it or not.
The executive is the face of the company, which leads the world’s largest Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) investment funds. Grayscale is currently in talks with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to approve each fund’s conversion into a publicly traded spot ETF product.
Despite opposition, the company won a lawsuit against government regulators in August, a major step toward achieving that goal. However, earlier this week, JPMorgan Chase’s CEO said that if he were in charge, he would shut down Bitcoin altogether.
Sonnhenshein responded with understanding but dismissiveness. In an interview with Yahoo Finance on Wednesday, he said:
“I think every executive, especially in financial services, will have an opinion about new technology and whether it’s cryptocurrencies or Bitcoin. But if you step back, there’s no doubt that this asset class is here to stay and investor interest in this asset class is only going to grow.”
After a sharp rally to over $44,000 earlier this week, Bitcoin is now up more than 160% year to date. Ethereum, meanwhile, is up 96% to over $2,300.
Sonnhenshein highlighted how assets like Bitcoin “mean different things to different people,” especially in an investment context. While some may buy it as a hedge against inflation and the traditional financial system (much like gold), he believes others may begin flocking to it as a tech investment in a potential low-interest rate environment next year.
The Importance of a Bitcoin ETF
If Sonnhenshein’s Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) is approved as an ETF, it is expected to provide a way for institutional money to invest directly in BTC.
Many companies are prohibited from buying tokens directly because their internal charters dictate that they can only buy assets wrapped in traditional securities. So far, such companies seeking bitcoin investments have had to settle for shares such as those of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (COIN) or prolific bitcoin investor MicroStrategy (MSTR).
Sonnhenshein said that as more capital flows into the cryptocurrency space, traditional financial institutions must “evolve their business models” to accommodate blockchain. He said:
“Regardless of the views of some of these executives, these banks and large institutions must position themselves for the modern investor. This includes embracing new technologies such as crypto.#Grayscale #比特币
