Even if you have no interest in crypto, the current frenzy around Bitcoin ETFs is interesting purely as a matter of competitive strategy. There is a brand new market up for grabs that will be worth billions—perhaps trillions—and at least 13 companies are vying to get a piece of it. If the predictions are correct, and the SEC lets the process go forward as a pure jump ball on Wednesday, who will be the winner? The would-be ETF issuers are making respective cases that the prize the will go to the cheapest or the safest or the swiftest or the one with the most Bitcoin cred.
We will get the answer soon enough, but for now the one thing we do know is that the market isn't big enough for everyone to win. Historically, the nature of new ETFs is that one player takes the vast majority of the market while one or two others carve out a niche worth 10% or less. In the case of the impending Bitcoin ETFs, it's possible things could shake out differently given the very different nature of the firms lining up to offer one.
