Grayscale CEO Says Spot Bitcoin ETFs to Allow Market Inflow of $30T in Advised Wealth

Michael Sonnenshein, the CEO of leading asset management firm Grayscale Investments, believes the approval of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) could allow the crypto market to enjoy an inflow of $30 trillion in advised wealth.

During an interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box, Sonnenshein said there is a lot of market optimism for Bitcoin (BTC) next year as many investors are adding the digital asset to their portfolios.

Opportunity for $30T Advised Wealth Inflow

Sonnenshein said the optimism in the market could be traced to Grayscale’s court victory a few months back, which bolstered the community’s hope for a spot Bitcoin ETF approval. Recall that in August, a U.S. Court ordered the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to reevaluate the asset manager’s application to convert its leading GBTC fund into a Bitcoin ETF.

The Grayscale CEO opined that the launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs would unlock digital asset exposure to a part of the investment community that has been locked out of the opportunity to have exposure to BTC. He said the U.S. advised market worth $30 trillion would become part of the investment community with BTC exposure after the launch of the products.

“So, we’re really talking about the advised market here in the U.S., which is today about $30 trillion worth of advised wealth that we hope the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs, the uplisting of the GBTC will allow for that opportunity and for those investors to partake in it as well,” he stated.

Grayscale is among more than a dozen traditional finance firms that are contending to launch the first spot Bitcoin ETF in the U.S. Some of the asset managers in the race include BlackRock, Ark Invest, Fidelity, Galaxy Digital, Franklin Templeton, and VanEck.

Biggest Development on Wall Street in 30 Years

Sonnenshein’s comments on the anticipated ETF approval come on the heels of a similarly huge remark by Michael Saylor, co-founder and executive chairman of business intelligence firm MicroStrategy.

In a recent interview with Bloomberg, the Bitcoin advocate said the approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF could be the biggest development on Wall Street in the last 30 years.

Meanwhile, the SEC is expected to approve all or some spot Bitcoin ETF applications by January 2024.