As the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the first spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States, Web3 professionals argue that the approvals can boost the dwindling sub-crypto ecosystem of nonfungible tokens (NFTs).
Just in: The SEC approved the Bitcoin ETF!https://t.co/HpebjhDQJ1
— Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) January 10, 2024
Bill Qian, the chairman of crypto investment firm Cypher Capital, said that perceived ‘alternative assets’ like NFTs stand to “benefit indirectly” from the approval of the spot Bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. Qian believes that the approval of the ETFs will also play a pivotal role in mainstream finance’s acceptance of BTC and will likely also affect NFTs.
“The growing understanding and acceptance of Bitcoin will likely spill over, increasing investor curiosity and appetite for NFTs,” Qian explained. He added that the expansion in knowledge and comfort with digital assets could also lead to a “broader embrace of NFTs” as a viable investment alongside BTC.
Oscar Franklin Tan, the chief financial officer of Atlas Development, a core contributor to the NFT platform Enjin, believes that the spot Bitcoin ETF approvals will “boost NFTs.” The executive argued that “Bitcoin has NFTs,” referring to the Ordinals protocol, which has had over $800 million in sales volume in the last 30 days.
The executive also told Cointelegraph that the ETF approvals are “crucial validation,” showing that the largest digital asset is now SEC-approved for retail. He said:
“No one needs to explain anything. They can just point to the ETF, complete with the big names of BlackRock, Fidelity and Coinbase.”
In addition, Tan said that after the spot Bitcoin ETFs, Ethereum ETFs could be next, bringing a renewed interest in Ethereum-based NFTs. Tan added, “This will bring attention back to the original Ethereum NFTs like Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks, which have far more history and established communities than Bitcoin NFTs.”
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