Bitcoin is back, but not as you know it
The US Securities and Exchange Commission finally approved spot bitcoin ETFs this week
2 min
Several of the first spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to ever be listed on United States stock markets began trading last night. This follows the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approving the listing of 11 spot bitcoin ETFs after a legal battle with fund provider, Grayscale. The approval follows six years of knock-backs for many fund providers seeking permission to offer spot bitcoin ETFs. This is considered a watershed moment in the investing world, allowing more investors to gain exposure to the cryptocurrency asset without buying bitcoin directly themselves.
ETFs are baskets of assets that are professionally managed by fund providers. Ordinary investors can buy them on the stock market just like any other share. Among the 11 fund providers approved to launch their ETFs this week are BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale and VanEck.
Spot bitcoin ETFs give investors direct exposure to bitcoin at its spot (current) price. The ability to buy bitcoin exposure via a traditional stock exchange will give investors some degree of regulatory protection as the fund managers must comply with the Securities Act, Exchange Act, and SEC rules. Investors may also feel more peace of mind buying bitcoin via a professionally managed ETF instead of buying it directly themselves through an unregulated cryptocurrency trading platform.
However, SEC Chair Gary Gensler emphasised that the decision to approve the spot bitcoin ETFs did not mean the SEC endorsed cryptocurrency assets. He said bitcoin was “primarily a speculative, volatile asset that’s also used for illicit activity including ransomware, money laundering, sanction evasion, and terrorist financing”. He added: “While we approved the listing and trading of certain spot bitcoin ETP shares today, we did not approve or endorse bitcoin. Investors should remain cautious about the myriad risks associated with bitcoin and products whose value is tied to crypto.”
The SEC’s decision follows a lawsuit launched by Grayscale after the SEC refused to allow it to convert its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust into a listed ETF. The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia found that the SEC had failed to adequately explain its reasons for denying the listing. This meant the SEC had to review its ruling and either more fully explain its reasoning, or approve the listing of the ETF. Gensler said in light of these circumstances, “I feel the most sustainable path forward is to approve the listing and trading of these spot bitcoin [ETF] shares”. The SEC not only approved Grayscale’s product but 10 other spot bitcoin ETF applications awaiting a decision.
Gensler warned that the approval of spot bitcoin ETFs would not automatically open the door for other cryptocurrency ETF products. “It should in no way signal the Commission’s willingness to approve listing standards for crypto asset securities,” he said. Bitcoin closed slightly lower at US$46,382.60 in overnight trading. Cryptocurrencies are known for their volatility. In the case of bitcoin, it hit an all-time peak value of just under $69,000 in November 2021 before crashing to below $17,000 in 2022. Over the past 12 months, the bitcoin price has risen by almost 160%.
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Millions of houses, thousands of jets, every NFL and NBA team—imagine the things a trillionaire could buy.
3 min
The initial public offering for SpaceX could make Elon Musk the world’s first trillionaire. Just how wealthy is the tech founder?
His fortune now stands at roughly $970 billion, mostly in stock, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis.
Accumulating that amount over his career averages out to $992 a second.
Musk’s wealth includes $538 billion for his pre-IPO stake in SpaceX, $167 billion for his stake in Tesla , and another $150 billion or so for stock options in those companies he could exercise just about any time, the Journal analysis found.
Then there is $5 billion apiece for The Boring Company, which drills tunnels, and Neuralink, the brain-implant firm he founded, and $104 billion in property, aircraft and other investments and assets as estimated by Altrata, a wealth-intelligence firm
He has made about $3.6 million an hour over 31 years
Musk is 54 years old and co-founded the first of his many U.S. tech- and engineering-oriented companies in 1995, 31 years ago. To amass $970 billion in that time meant accumulating roughly:
An American household earning the median U.S. income ($83,730 in 2024) would have to work more than 11 million years to make his wealth.
To be sure, the success of Tesla and SpaceX also has made billions of dollars for investors who bet on Musk and made millionaires of employees who got shares in the businesses.
Ingrid Robeyns, a philosopher and economist, has written that the wealth of the world’s richest has soared so much it is nearly incomprehensible for laypeople to grasp.
She recently estimated that Musk would make about $4.2 million an hour in his career, if he worked 70 hours a week without vacations until he is 75 years old.
Musk, of course, is known for sleeping on factory floors and rarely taking vacations. After buying Twitter, he has said, his work exploded to more than 120 hours a week from about 80 hours before.
Buy 2.4 million U.S. homes or 10,000 private jets
Most of Musk’s wealth is tied up in his companies. He famously said in 2020 that he would “own no house” and sold off several California properties, only to later buy homes in Texas.
Musk can borrow billions against his holdings in SpaceX and Tesla, but much of his wealth is on paper—not cash he can easily spend.
Here are some things a person with $970 billion could do with that amount of money:
$970 billion is bigger than the yearly output of most countries
Musk’s net worth eclipses the annual economic activity of more than 125 countries, including Norway, Thailand, Argentina and South Africa.
His self-made fortune, built on electric vehicles rocket ships and artificial-intelligence ambitions amounts to about 3% of U.S. gross domestic product today. On that basis, he easily surpasses John D. Rockefeller , the richest American who ever lived before Musk.
A century ago, Rockefeller rode the wave of industrialisation by building Standard Oil into a behemoth, wielding influence over railroads and pipelines. The monopoly was ultimately broken up by the federal government.
Rockefeller amassed a fortune of about $1.4 billion by 1937—roughly 1.5% of U.S. GDP at the time. Here is how that compares in terms of today’s economy:
This explanatory article may be periodically updated.
Sources: Altrata (Musk net worth excluding options; Bezos, Ellison and Zuckerberg net worth); Securities and Exchange Commission filings (Tesla and SpaceX stock options); Census via St. Louis Fed (2024 median U.S. annual household income, first-quarter 2026 median U.S. house sale price); Forbes (NFL and NBA team values); Liberty Jet (G700 operating costs); International Monetary Fund (2026 GDP by country); Harvard Business School case study (Rockefeller wealth) undefined Photos: Getty Images (Musk); Associated Press (Musk, Bezos, NBA, NFL); Reuters (Zuckerberg, Ellison); Bloomberg (homes, jet)
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