Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino predicts more bitcoin buy-in from funds post spot bitcoin ETF approval

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino predicts bitcoin will increasingly integrate into traditional finance, with hedge funds, pension funds, and corporations showing growing interest in the world's first cryptocurrency.

Ardoino, who is also CTO of Bitfinex, spoke Tuesday during an online event hosted by the exchange alongside Blockstream CEO Adam Back.

During the livestream, Ardoino said he expects more fund managers will be interested in adding bitcoin to their portfolios following the approval of a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund in the U.S. Fund managers are increasingly interested in adding up to five percent of their portfolio in bitcoin, he also said. 

Companies will also keep bitcoin on their balance sheets, Ardoino said, adding that spot bitcoin ETFs have since provided legitimacy. So far, only a handful of companies have bitcoin holdings including Tesla, Inc. and MicroStrategy Inc., according to CoinGecko. 

"Now every company can start adding just a little bit of bitcoin to their balance sheet and I think that will grow over time," Ardoino said, citing political unrest as a potential reason for doing so. 

Ardoino's comments come a month after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved the first spot bitcoin ETFs which now have some $42 billion in assets, including Grayscale's converted GBTC fund. Bitcoin BTC -2.17% 's price has since risen to $56,000 as of Tuesday, marking a record high since November 2021, which some say can be attributed to spot bitcoin ETFs' trading volume. 

A future change in policy

Ardoino said during Tuesday's panel that he thinks policymakers and regulators will have to play catch up as countries such as El Salvador have embraced bitcoin over the years. 

"It's exactly like the bitcoin ETF story," Ardoino said. "First they were mocking anyone that was talking about even the possibility of a bitcoin ETF, but eventually when it became reality suddenly everyone wanted to jump on the bitcoin bandwagon and start to launch an ETF."

In the U.S., lawmakers are working on bills to create a regulatory framework for crypto and specifically stablecoins, though that legislation has not yet gotten close to going in front of President Joe Biden to sign. On the regulatory front, SEC Chair Gary Gensler has classified bitcoin as a commodity, distinguishing it from many other cryptocurrencies, which he deems securities subject to securities laws.