![With the bitcoin price exceeding 52 million won, a citizen is passing by on the 15th in front of the customer center billboard of Upbit, a virtual currency exchange located in Teheranno, Seoul. [이충우 기자]](https://i0.wp.com/file.mk.co.kr/meet/neds/2021/02/image_readtop_2021_149904_16133849224541863.jpg?w=400&ssl=1)
With the bitcoin price exceeding 52 million won, a citizen is passing by on the 15th in front of the customer center display board of Upbit, a virtual currency exchange located in Teheran-ro, Seoul. [이충우 기자]Tesla, led by CEO Elon Musk, is revolutionizing the cryptocurrency market. Tesla announced on the 8th (local time) that it will invest $1.5 billion in Bitcoin, a representative virtual currency. The market is fluctuating as Tesla invests in bitcoin and plans to make it possible to pay for vehicle purchases with bitcoin. Mastercard, Twitter, and New York Melon Bank joined in, and in Canada, the world’s first Bitcoin Listed Index Fund (ETF) passed the listing screening. If the Bitcoin ETF, which is being reviewed in the United States, succeeds in listing, it is expected that individual investors’ bitcoin investment will also gain momentum.
On the 15th, according to the financial investment industry and foreign media, the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) in Canada approved the world’s first application for listing on the Bitcoin ETF on the 11th. Purpose Bitcoin ETF (BTCC), which has passed the screening, is expected to start trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) within this year.
The United States, whose players were taken by Canada, became urgent. In the United States, the Winkleboss brothers promoted listing of the Bitcoin ETF in 2013, but they did not exceed the threshold of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). VanEck, the most active in listing Bitcoin ETFs, filed an application for listing Bitcoin ETFs to the SEC at the end of last year. Recently, Bitwise is also promoting listing on the’Crypto Innovators ETF’.
Investors are interested in whether the SEC, which has repeatedly refused applications for listing Bitcoin ETFs for more than 7 years, will accept it for the first time in the bitcoin fever from Tesla. Joe Biden, the US government’s first finance minister, Janet Yellen, is negative about Bitcoin. He appeared at a Senate hearing on the 19th of last month and said, “There is a concern that virtual currency could be abused for terrorist money laundering.” Park Soo-min, a researcher at Shinyoung Securities, said, “They emphasize the need for a stable system and regulations, rather than opposing cryptocurrencies. The market is looking forward to speeding up the direction and commercialization of cryptocurrency regulations. said.
Blackrock, the world’s largest asset management company, has also added to Bitcoin investment. Blackrock recently announced that two funds it manages will invest in Bitcoin futures. “There is a clear demand for bitcoin,” said Rick Ryder, chief investment officer of Blackrock. “The demand for bitcoin will not stop in the short term.”
As the atmosphere ripens, the prospect that bitcoin ETFs will emerge in the US is weighing in. Canadian stocks and ETFs can be traded at some securities companies such as Mirae Asset Daewoo and Shinhan Investment Corp., but many of the ETFs listed in the US can be traded through domestic securities companies.
ARK Invest, which invests in companies seeking’disruptive innovation’ and operates active ETFs, is more favorable to Bitcoin. In the’Big Idea 2021′ published this year, “Institutional investors should consider the opportunity cost if they don’t put bitcoin into a new asset class,” he said. “According to our simulation, institutions invest 2.5~6.5% of their assets in Bitcoin. If distributed to, the bitcoin price will reach 200,000 to 500,000 dollars.”
[문지웅 기자]
[ⓒ 매일경제 & mk.co.kr, 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]