At the start of the year, the market for cryptocurrencies was in the midst of a monthslong crash. But as we close out 2023, some digital currencies are surging.
ADRIAN MA, HOST:
Could cryptocurrency make a comeback in 2024? This is what some crypto enthusiasts are predicting. And maybe this statement makes you go, what? Didn’t the cryptocurrency market, just a year ago or so, experience a massive crash? And, oh, didn’t this past year also see some major crypto companies like the trading platform FTX go bankrupt? Oh, and also, wasn’t the founder of that company, Sam Bankman-Fried, convicted of fraud? Well, yes.
ANDY BAEHR: Let’s face it, the digital asset industry had a sink full of dirty dishes, mostly in the form of bad behavior by some individuals and firms.
MA: Andy Baehr is with CoinDesk Indices, a company that gathers data and research on the cryptocurrency market. He is actually optimistic about the future of crypto thanks to a development involving the OG cryptocurrency, Bitcoin. So here’s what’s going on. In January, it’s expected that the Securities and Exchange Commission, the agency that regulates stock trading in the U.S., it’s expected they’re going to allow investors to start trading a new kind of financial asset called a spot bitcoin ETF – exchange traded fund. Andy Baehr describes it like this.
BAEHR: ETFs are one of the most important financial products available to any kind of investor. They make it easy for individuals, advisers and institutions to buy and trade primarily baskets of securities like the S&P 500, but also hard-to-store assets like gold or silver.
MA: Yeah. I mean, like, unless you were Scrooge McDuck, buying gold bullion? Kind of tricky for most people. But buying a gold ETF – relatively simple because ETFs trade on exchanges just like regular stocks. Now, the idea with the spot bitcoin ETF is similar – to make it easier for people to invest in bitcoin. And for bitcoin believers like…
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