Everyone loves crypto ETFs, but not after reading the fine print
Crypto ETFs have attracted billions in inflows and mainstream attention, but they undermine crypto’s core values of decentralization, self-custody and financial empowerment.
Opinion by: Agne Linge, head of growth at WeFi
Decentralized finance (DeFi) disrupting and outcompeting TradFi has long been the dream of many innovators in the crypto field. Some of them lauded the over $40 billion in net inflows to spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) — recorded in the US since last January’s regulatory drama — as a final victory for the industry.
While that indicates an increasing number of investors are interested in crypto and treat it as a legitimate asset, a U-turn on its core principles of self-custody, permissionless access and borderless value transfer is a big win for the industry. Crypto-based ETFs are simply centralizing what was built to resist centralization.