Bitcoin ETF Hype Is More Memestock Than Gold 2.0: Lionel Laurent

The regulatory approval of an exchange-traded fund isn’t supposed to be a mass-media event worthy of Wrestlemania. Yet here we are. The hype around US spot Bitcoin ETFs has reached meme levels akin to pandemic-era laser eyes: Crypto prices are soaring, hackers are mobilizing and Redditors are pumping. But the promise of game-changing, gold-like adoption looks like a meme too far.

The speculative build-up to US Securities and Exchange Commission approvalof the product has been music to the ears of Wall Streeters scrambling to flog ETFs at low, low prices — with fees set at around 0.2% to 0.4% and the prospect of as much as ...