Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, who typically covers the somewhat dull trends of traditional finance, stirred things up in the office when he became a key figure in the Bitcoin ETF approval coverage last year.
“I’m in a team of 10 people. Some people in the team mock James [Seyffart, fellow ETF analyst] and I. Other times, people who follow me online for ETF stuff get a little tired of it,” Balchunas tells Magazine.
But he shrugged off the teasing because he was dead certain that this Bitcoin ETF approval saga is a “once-in-a-decade situation.”
A decade ago he was markedly less keen on a Bitcoin ETF, but as his interest and knowledge in Bitcoin grew, so did his audience. Balchunas and Seyffart bet on the winning horse by making some bullish predictions the SEC would approve a spot Bitcoin ETF by January 10 — and last week, right on the deadline regulator approved 11 applications.
Crazy: Just the mere reg filing of a bitcoin ETF has already gotten more press/tweets than the dozens of new&useful ETF launches combined.
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) July 2, 2013
Balchunas has been pumping up his 219,200 X followers with increasing confidence this would happen since June 2023, with almost every utterance hung on by Bitcoiners.
He pretty much took on a second role, becoming the TradFi version of Doctor Dolittle, but instead of talking to the animals, he’s talking to the crypto bros.
“People were looking for a non-crypto person to give the lay of the land,” he explains.
“What James [Seyffart] and I did in the crypto world was that it needed an interpreter in traditional finance. The ETF was a storyline to do that. The educational side, how the ETF and the regulatory process works. I think we provided that.”
However, he explains there are some fringe users who believe he has ulterior motives.
“One guy keeps thinking I’m doing this to pump my bags, we actually have a funny relationship,” he laughs.
Despite his embrace of…
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