Large corporations, working with ETFs can make it easy to invest in bitcoin by accepting ETFs. An important barrier for investors when buying BTC is the price. Even with bitcoin currently retail investors may not be able to afford the entire BTC. In contrast bitcoin ETFs allow investors to have exposure to BTC within their budget risk tolerance and investment goals.

I'd like to think of it as a method for people who can't directly buy crypto for some reason or just hate the idea of being their own back and instead trust centralized services to do it for them which provides a whole bunch of convenience for their side. In the first place, I don't think people will buy Bioitcoin, ETF or not, if they want to go against the norms of crypto. They might also have wanted the inherent advantages of what ETF type investments provide itself, whatever those specifically may be.

What I think is that there is a hidden mission behind the propaganda ETF concept and it is true that everyone has different belief choices. I agree with you friend, investing in Bitcoin or other altcoins is better, only we can arrange buying and selling according to our wishes. Even though the ETF concept brings an alternative, I'm not interested yet

Because not everybody is interested in owning bitcoin, some people are in the game just for the gains. The don't care whether it's bitcoin, oil, semiconductors or food for pigeons, it's all about the profit they can make. So why should these type of people going through all the hassle to register on an exchange, move the dollars, get a hardware wallet, store the seed, etc etc when they can just buy bitcoin with a couple of clicks? If you're a hodler this doesn't make any sense of course but otherwise yes, it does.

People are used to not being in charge of their finances so the Bitcoin spot ETF give them that same feeling. They want others to be incharge of their finances since they can trust their ability to protect their finances if they're in control of it. We have been used to the banks and bankers holding and managing our money so most people will always find safety in centralization. Bitcoin been irreversible make people scared that they might lose their Bitcoin to hackers if they take control of their private key.

Secondly some people are just busy, they want to invest in Bitcoin but don't want to handle any risk so investing in Bitcoin ETF is the best option for them. Many people still don't understand Bitcoin to be a decentralized currency, they only see it as a means to secure their wealth and to increase their wealth too. They see Bitcoin as more of an investment so they only care about the profits that they'll getting when they invest into Bitcoin through Bitcoin spot ETF.

Bitcoin spot ETF isn't the best to hodl, hold the real Bitcoin in a non constodial wallet that you own the private key. Hodling Bitcoin ETF is just like holding Bitcoin on exchanges or on centralized platforms as you don't own those Bitcoin but just a digital representation of the Bitcoin.

As far as I know, Bitcoin ETFs are only intended for investors who don't want the hassle of having to have a Bitcoin wallet, then go to an exchange to buy real Bitcoin. then move again from the exchange to the bitcoin wallet.

ETFs make it very easy for investors who don't want to do that, just deposit their FIAT money into the exchange and immediately get a bitcoin ETF. Moreover, it still benefits from the status of an asset protected by securities.

In the long term, each investor has their own view. For those of us who play on real Bitcoin, we definitely prefer Bitcoin over Bitcoin ETF. If you can buy real Bitcoin, why should you buy a representation of Bitcoin?

It's your choice, but I find holding altcoins to be much riskier than investing in a bitcoin ETF. You won't own real bitcoin if you invest in a bitcoin ETF, but you will be protected by law and regulation if you run into problems during your investment. But if you hold altcoins, you will not receive any protection from legal authorities if the project turns out to be a scam. There are many altcoins on the market that are considered very reputable and reputable, but there is no 100% guarantee that they are safe and will never turn out to be scams. Altcoin and bitcoin ETFs, I still think bitcoin ETFs are safer.

sorry to hear that your pension plan doesnt allow any access to ETF or tailoring of investment choices.

but for others that do have access to pre-tax deposits to invest into ETF. thats why THEY would invest in bitcoin etf instead of buying actual bitcoin

I don’t have a pension plan. Most employers have long done away with pensions (at least in the U.S.). For the most part, of course not across the board, it’s mainly utilized by government outlets (state/city/etc). I work for a financial company and we partner with institutions to record keep, and as for myself provide investment guidance, plan education etc for the optional retirement plan (deferred comp/457b). Pensions don’t allow participants to invest how they want, there is a financial board representing the organization as the ones who oversee the pension, how the funds are invested etc. These pensions provide lifetime income, which is very different than an employer retirement plan or individual plan (IRA)..unless they have some sort of income rider which is usually annuity based, but they aren’t very common. Pension boards have failed time and time again throughout US history and often times it’s due to mismanagement/corruption etc. So, the likelihood of the investment board purchasing such a highly volatile currency (not inherently an investment) is essentially zero, at least for now.

Employer plans such as 401ks, 457, 403b etc can offer ETFs , Mutual Funds, CITs etc..but under ERISA who regulates them (minus 457 plans) it’s HIGHLY  unlikely they would allow for a btc ETF. It wont happen for years. Recent years these types of plans have been sued by its employees every which way to Sunday for providing anything with a high beta. “I didn’t know the investment had so much risk”. You won’t even find semiconductor or healthcare sector ETFs and ETFs of that ilk in them. It’s not worth it to the employer. There’s just no point.

So it’s only going to be found in one type of retirement plan ATM and that’s IRAs. Which of course your company has nothing to do with (there are odd outliers that are very rare). But there’s going to be a heck of a lot of people who will buy these BTC ETFs in them. I’ve probably helped explain how to properly store btc to clients maybe 100 times in the past 3-4 years, and never do they go out and buy a hardware wallet and follow proper direction. They just leave the coins in their CONbase accounts, Binance etc,  So it goes to show these ETFs inside IRAs should be very popular for ease of purchase/storage and as you mentioned..tax advantages.