Matt Hougan: “Bitcoin ETF will see even larger influx of funds”

According to Matt Hougan, the introduction of spot Bitcoin ETFs is an extremely important step, but it is equally important that institutional capital gains access to ETFs, that is, that the ability to trade ETF shares becomes available to large clearinghouses and brokerages.

“I think that in a few months this area will see an even larger wave of funds when we see the activation of the main exchanges and clearinghouses. It is institutional capital that will be the basis of this wave. At the same time, there is already too much demand for Bitcoin and insufficient supply of the asset,” Hougan noted.

The Bitwise investment director also noted that currently the main participants in trading in Bitcoin funds remain retail traders, hedge funds and independent financial advisors. And large institutional capital is still “swaying.”

It is worth noting that yesterday, February 29, one of the largest investment banks in America - Merrill Lynch and Wells Fargo - provided the opportunity to trade spot Bitcoin ETFs to their wealthy clients. However, according to Bloomberg, these products are currently only available upon special customer request.

Hougan emphasized that the influx of institutional funds “will push the price of Bitcoin significantly higher,” perhaps up to $100,000 per coin this year. In general, he said, the emergence of Bitcoin ETFs “launched a new era of discovery” in the financial industry. Let us recall that on February 29, investors invested $673 million more in BTC spot funds than they withdrew.