Arthur Hayes, co-founder of crypto exchange BitMEX, is sounding the alarm over what he sees as potentially dire outcomes from the pending regulatory approval of the bitcoin Spot Exchange Traded Fund (ETF).
The concern lies with traditional financial asset managers, such as BlackRock, potentially undermining bitcoin (btc) by dominating the bitcoin ETF spot market.
In a Dec. 22 blog post, Hayes highlighted the risk that such companies own “all the bitcoin in circulation.” If that happens, he says, an overly successful ETF run by traditional asset managers could ultimately lead to the decline of the cryptocurrency.
Hayes argues that BlackRock and similar entities “suck up assets, store them in a metaphorical vault, issue a tradable security, and charge a management fee for their 'hard' work.”
“They don't use the things they have on behalf of their customers, which presents a problem for bitcoin if we take an extreme view of a possible future,” he added.
The public may then opt for bitcoin ETF derivatives rather than buying and holding bitcoin themselves, which impacts the use of the bitcoin blockchain, Hayes says.
Hayes surmised a future where bitcoin will simply be stored in vaults and miners will no longer receive income due to lack of use of the network. This scenario, he warns, could lead to the death of the network and the demise of bitcoin.
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Hayes also highlighted bitcoin's 228% growth since 2020, where he claims it has outperformed most traditional assets. This growth means the dominance of btc as a hedge against the debasement of fiat money, he adds.
Hayes Advised Investors to Avoid Permission-Based and Tokenized DeFi Projects real world assetsand governance tokens linked to debt yields.
Before writing his latest blog post, Hayes took to social media to reveal that he had moved his investments from Solana (SOL) to Ether (eth), despite having criticized Solana and even predicting that the token could surpass the $100 mark based on its price. current rally.
By switching to eth, Hayes appears to be bucking the trend, as Solana has outperformed Ether during the current cryptocurrency market resurgence.
However, Hayes anticipates that Ether will reach $5,000, surpassing its previous high of $4,800 reached in November 2021.
It is worth noting that Hayes previously criticized Solana, even expressing scathing criticism of the project when he acquired the tokens in November.