Bitcoin ETF approved exactly 15 years after late Hal Finney’s legendary post | CoinDesk JAPAN

“Running bitcoin”.

So wrote Hal Finney, the legendary cypherpunk who became the first person to download and receive Bitcoin (BTC) on January 11, 2009, two days later.

This post introduced the world to Bitcoin, which at the time was a niche internet token, and at its peak would grow to be worth $1 trillion.

Running bitcoin

— halfin (@halfin) January 11, 2009

Exactly 15 years after Finney’s post, Bitcoin was approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as the first spot exchange-traded fund (ETF).

Approved providers include financial giants BlackRock and Fidelity, and crypto-native fund Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) has also been upgraded as an ETF. Ta. Fees for these products range from “zero for the first few months” at ARK, Bitwise and Invesco to 1.5% at Grayscale.

Finney, who died in August 2014, was also the first person other than Bitcoin’s tentative creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, to download and run Bitcoin’s software.

He believed that Bitcoin had the potential to grow rapidly. In an email to Nakamoto, Finney was quick to put a price on the token. He estimated that a fraction of the world’s household wealth would be funneled into the project, and that 21 million coins would one day be worth $10 million.

Bitcoin was originally supposed to be an anti-establishment play operating far from the traditional banking world, but Wall Street’s adoption means the token will grow broadly as an alternative asset.

Regulated products allow investors and funds to gain exposure to tokens without the risks associated with setting up and managing a crypto wallet. The green signal from the SEC comes after years of delays or outright rejections of numerous attempts to launch a spot Bitcoin ETF.

Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, co-founders of cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, first filed with the SEC to create a Bitcoin spot ETF in 2013, but they immediately Rejected. Grayscale has been trying to convert the trust into an ETF since 2017.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin price hit a high of $47,500 before retreating after approval, but is still approaching its 2021 all-time high of $69,000.

Finney won’t see the success of magic Internet money, but his accomplishments arewill live forever.

｜Translation: CoinDesk JAPAN
｜Edited by: Toshihiko Inoue
｜Image: Hal Finney
｜Original: Bitcoin ETFs Secure Approval Exactly 15 Years After Hal Finney’s Iconic ‘Running Bitcoin’ Tweet