March 9, 2021
I’ll be honest; I have mixed feelings about Bitcoin. It’s not that I’m a crypto-skeptic in general. I’ve been bullish on blockchain and 90% of the cool business models that have emerged, from stablecoins to Central Bank Digital Currencies to NFTs and swap-exchanges on the Ethereum blockchain. But the long-term use case for Bitcoin specifically I still struggle with. It may be that simply calling “first” here is enough, and thus Bitcoin will ultimately be a primary crypto store of value, used mostly for staking and collateral purposes.
But that’s not actually my point today. My point today is about the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC). I’m going to use GBTC as a bit of shorthand because I’m certain enough that in all the ways that matter, all of the other similar products (BITW, ETHE, etc.) have at least notionally similar if not identical qualities.