Blackrock iShares files for Spot BTC ETF.

[ETJ]

"The Trust is not a banking institution or otherwise a member of the FDIC or Securities Investor Protection Corporation (“SIPC”) and, therefore, deposits held with or assets held by the Trust are not subject to the protections enjoyed by depositors with FDIC or SIPC member institutions" - from the offering filed. Really no surprise until the securities get registered and trade on a registered exchange which will take a while.
The state Blue Sky laws are going to be a bitch to obtain even in the rare event it gets approved by the FEDS.
What has to have been a catalyst in the filing was the CBOEFE getting approval for margined physically settled futures. I'm assuming options on the future will come down the road.
Probably get options on the trust as soon as it is eligible for margin trading.

ProShares got approved for both the ETF and the inverse, but it's using the CME future - a fully registed CFTC product.

 

[johnarb]

Expert discussion on this subject, i.e. lower friction costs

 

[jbusse]

I watched a video on YouTube from a bitcoin guy I like, but he also shits on stablecoins. But it goes me thinking, isn't the EuroDollar essentially a dollar that the US government doesn't print or manage? Yet this system is what actually runs the world. Dollars outside of the US is what runs trade. So how is this dollar, which is issued by foreign banks, not attacked? I'm more than likely not understanding something, but if the US doesn't like the Tether company issuing the proxy for a dollar, then why is the EuroDollar allowed to operate?

Eurodollars are printed by the Fed, same as all USD. Eurodollars are held offshore (i.e., deposited in a non-U.S. bank). The distinction between onshore USD deposits and Eurodollar deposits is onshore deposits are subject to substantial regulation (FDIC insurance, etc.), whereas offshore banks aren't subject to U.S. bank regulations. Either way, it's the same currency, and the classification of onshore USD vs. Eurodollar changes based simply on the location of the bank where the USD is held (which sets the regulation the bank is subject to).

 

[The_Krakenite]

0 evidence to support this. Not even a shred

Hey, weren't you one of those saying that to defend FTX?

In my day, self-asserted geniuses used to say that about Enron too, because, how can you prove Enron of fraud when there are no certified audits to prove there is fraud?

Now I am seeing the exact same shit play out here, on this very forum. Interesting... I thought this was Elite Trader, not Obtuse Trader.

But what do I know? Only seen the disaster of these 'failed to produce an audit' companies a few dozen times in my time. Hint: It never ends well.

 

[ETJ]

Statement


Statement Regarding the Commission’s Disapproval of a Proposed Rule Change to List and Trade Shares of the VanEck Bitcoin Trust


https://www.sec.gov/news/statement/peirce-uyeda-statement-vaneck-bitcoin-trust-031023

This is their March statement on the basis of their previous disapprovals.

 

[NoahA]

Eurodollars are printed by the Fed,

I don't think this is true. I'm the wrong person to make the case, but I don't think the fed has anything to do with the Eurodollar. This is also why nobody knows how many are out there.

 

[jbusse]

I don't think this is true. I'm the wrong person to make the case, but I don't think the fed has anything to do with the Eurodollar. This is also why nobody knows how many are out there.

As far as Bitcoin, I'm more or less a novice. But I've taught international finance for many years, and my Eurodollar knowledge is pretty solid. If you were to move USD deposits from Wells Fargo, USA to a bank in the Cayman Islands, you've essentially converted those USD into Eurodollars. Since there is no transparency into the size of all of these offshore USD deposits across all the banks in all the non-U.S. towns in all the world, that is why nobody knows how many Eurodollars are out there.

 

[johnarb]

As far as Bitcoin, I'm more or less a novice. But I've taught international finance for many years, and my Eurodollar knowledge is pretty solid. If you were to move USD deposits from Wells Fargo, USA to a bank in the Cayman Islands, you've essentially converted those USD into Eurodollars. Since there is no transparency into the size of all of these offshore USD deposits across all the banks in all the non-U.S. towns in all the world, that is why nobody knows how many Eurodollars are out there.

Every time I think I understand Eurodollars, after a little bit of time, I get confused again, haha

What you just described is a nice way of Eurodollars being created with very clean audit trail

However, most of the over 13 trillion Eurodollars that exist are not so clean. They are just ledger entries in foreign banks. Credit. Liabilities

USD being the global reserve currency created a demand for $ in international trades

After WW2, the Eurodollars system was created by foreign banks without permission or approval from the Federal Reserve from my memory in the book The Layered Money

So if a German auto supplier goes to Credit Suisse and needs $1M loan, CS adjusts the bank ledger, 1M Eurodollars is now deposited in the auto suppliers bank account

The Fed had no control or even notified

This is why NoahA is critical of the whole thing. It's not a bearer asset. I joked that I've never seen a Eurodollar coin or note

At least with USDT, if I have 1000 USDT on my Metamask wallet and want to transfer it to a friend in South Korea, it will be done instantly and with no banks in the middle, all final settlement in a few seconds, shows up in his Metamask wallet, recorded on the blockhain

USDT is not credit from the PoV of the users. They are bearer digital tokens/assets and no need to be custodied by a bank like Eurodollars have to be "physically" stored in an overseas bank

 

[mervyn]

I watched a video on YouTube from a bitcoin guy I like, but he also shits on stablecoins. But it goes me thinking, isn't the EuroDollar essentially a dollar that the US government doesn't print or manage? Yet this system is what actually runs the world. Dollars outside of the US is what runs trade. So how is this dollar, which is issued by foreign banks, not attacked? I'm more than likely not understanding something, but if the US doesn't like the Tether company issuing the proxy for a dollar, then why is the EuroDollar allowed to operate?

Eurodollar is printed by the Fed same as any Dollar. It is settled via New York Fed. If you transfer dollars from one bank to another, it makes a trip to NYC first. If your account is flagged, you may never see the money again.

 

[NoahA]

As far as Bitcoin, I'm more or less a novice. But I've taught international finance for many years, and my Eurodollar knowledge is pretty solid. If you were to move USD deposits from Wells Fargo, USA to a bank in the Cayman Islands, you've essentially converted those USD into Eurodollars. Since there is no transparency into the size of all of these offshore USD deposits across all the banks in all the non-U.S. towns in all the world, that is why nobody knows how many Eurodollars are out there.

Everything that @johnarb said sounds pretty damn good to me. And I would also add that I watch Jeff Snyder over at EuroDollar University quite religiously.

https://www.youtube.com/@eurodollaruniversity/videos

But I think Lyn goes over this very well.

So if the EuroDollar system is essentially just created dollars, that the US government doesn't nothing about, then why attack a stablecoin which, is at least somewhat backed by actual dollars?

I also liked John's take on this in that at least Tether is buying US Treasuries. At a time when other countries will be dumping theirs, you would think a buyer of this garbage would be welcome.