BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF Plans Raise Concerns About Centralization, Notes Arthur Hayes

cryptonews.com:

According to a recent Tom Bilyeu interview with Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX, the possible entry of asset management behemoth BlackRock into the Bitcoin sector could reshape the leading cryptocurrency in ways that diverge from its original ethos. 

While traders and investors anticipate the approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF—which BlackRock is also contending for—Hayes highlighted concerns about the large-scale influence traditional finance could exert on Bitcoin.

Arthur Hayes' warning comes as BlackRock, the world's largest asset management firm with assets totaling over several trillion dollars, awaits a decision from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on its application for a spot Bitcoin ETF. 

While the SEC has postponed decisions on numerous such applications, including BlackRock's, as of September, it is expected to rule on them by early 2024.

"Will so much value and currency be owned by these centralized asset managers, who are essentially arms of the traditional finance ecosystem, that the underlying fundamentals of what Bitcoin is—the privacy—will those be altered?" Hayes questioned.

Hayes' concern echoes a broader discourse in the crypto community around the tension between centralization and the foundational principles of Bitcoin. The initial idea behind the digital currency was to offer an alternative to traditional financial systems, free from centralized control. 

Hayes pointed out that the entry of firms like BlackRock into the Bitcoin scene may shift the balance of power, potentially undermining Bitcoin's key attributes such as censorship resistance and decentralization.

The SEC's role in this scenario is key. While the financial community waits for the SEC's ruling, expected by early 2024,