Why a spot bitcoin ETF is a win for investors

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) prices rose above $45,000 as investors anticipate the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) approval of a spot bitcoin ETF.

Riot Platforms CEO (RIOT) Jason Les told Yahoo Finance Live the launch of ETFs backed by Bitcoin would be "an incredible tool for unlocking new pools of capital flowing into bitcoin."

“Historically a lot of investors who may have had an interest in bitcoin, have not been able to get exposure to the asset,” Les explained. “Now, investors would be able to get indirect exposure to bitcoin and use that as a part of their portfolio management.”

Les added: “We believe this is going to bring a huge inflow of new capital into the space that should have a very positive catalyst on the price of bitcoin.”

For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Yahoo Finance Live.

Editor's note: This article was written by Nicholas Jacobino.

Video transcript

SEANA SMITH: Jason, from an investor perspective, I think a lot of people are sitting there when they take into account that, hey, maybe we could potentially invest in a spot Bitcoin ETF that could be a little bit safer, just given the fact that I think so many investors are a little bit nervous still about the reliability and maybe whether or not it would make sense for them individually to go out and buy Bitcoin.

I'm curious from your perspective and the conversations that you're having just about the confidence that you think investors have in Bitcoin right now, and what you think that an approval like this potentially for the spot Bitcoin ETF could potentially do to further that narrative and give investors a bit more confidence.

JASON LES: Well, first I think real world events are continuing to run marketing for Bitcoin. We have seen the value of the dollar continue to go down as money's printed by central banks, particularly here in the United States. We've seen access to transmitting money prohibited all over the globe, even here in North America. So the whole world is doing marketing for Bitcoin.

I think that there is a growing interest in Bitcoin knowing the properties that it has. I think investors are starting to see there is value to having a deflationary asset as part of their portfolio. For years, investors have used gold as a inflationary hedge as a part of their portfolio. Fidelity calls Bitcoin exponential gold because unlike gold, there's only so much Bitcoin that can be mine. Gold can continue to be mined for the foreseeable future here.

So we think that-- I always encourage people to learn about Bitcoin and learn how it works and learn about actually using the system itself. Short of having that technical expertise and taking that leap, I think the ETF is a tool to give investors a security to access Bitcoin, to get exposure to that as a part of their Bitcoin journey, hopefully eventually owning and using the asset itself directly.

BRAD SMITH: And so to what extent does value for the currency still kind of find itself derived off of utilization versus just being a holding asset type?

JASON LES: I think Bitcoin has a number of value propositions. I think just as a store of value, Bitcoin can fulfill a major need for investors. If Bitcoin reached gold's market cap, Bitcoin would be somewhere around $600,000 a coin. That's how early I think we are on the store value stage.

If you want to talk about ability to exchange Bitcoin, Bitcoin is used globally. More and more businesses are accepting Bitcoin. And more individuals are using Bitcoin to transmit value. I think that's a direct result of the growing adoption and appreciation of understanding for Bitcoin.

First you come in for the store of value narrative, and then you need to transmit that to conduct some type of commerce or whatever you want to do with your money. So we are seeing the use of Bitcoin increase. We are seeing transaction fees on Bitcoin higher than they've ever been. And that's a result of more and more people using this network, using this blockchain, using this protocol.