ETF shares are
literally paper bitcoins.......
so weird how bitcoiners get all paranoid about "paper gold" and then go around acting like ETF shares are actual bitcoins.
Completely depends on the individual proposal. This SolidX one is backed by real coins. The KNCminer ETN is voluntarily backed by real ones.
that wasn't to say ETFs are debt notes per se (ETNs
are), but that they are paper substitutes for real BTC.
in both cases, you're trading a security/contract that is "backed" and you're trusting counterparties to be honest (i.e. your contracts are backed by actual value and you will be paid when you try to withdraw).
an ETF is different in that there is technically no "credit risk" beyond the issuer playing games with its assets (WEX and the chinese exchanges come to mind). but then you've got custody/insurance risk and closure risk (and in case of disaster, you will not be paid the underlying but liquidated to cash and probably tied up for many months if not years). beyond that, similar risk can also manifest as disparity from the underlying index.
here's one example:
ETFs were in focus during the flash crash of 2010, in which bids on dozens of ETFs (and other stocks) fell as low as a penny a share, and again in 2013, when municipal-bond ETFs traded at a discount to their net asset values during the “taper tantrum,” when bond yields jumped.
And then came Aug. 24. The debacle was a test for the labyrinth of new regulations put in place after the 2010 flash crash, and it wasn’t pretty. As the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 1,000 points, triggers went off for mandated halts in many stocks held by ETFs, as well as the ETFs themselves. Then, a number of ETFs stunned investors by trading at prices far below their NAV, highlighting concerns that ETFs might not be as easy to move in and out of at “fair” prices when markets are in disarray.
ETFs can face disastrous liquidity problems during high volatility and especially during downturns. and during these times, "backing" means fuck all, especially when your account is being liquidated.
but the larger point is about delivery. ETFs only ever liquidate to cash, it doesn't matter what's underlying. if anything bad happens, ever, you will get USD cash (at best), and not necessarily in the amount that is equivalent to the underlying value. (and while you're waiting to be paid over years perhaps, maybe another BTC bubble occurs)
when the true BTC liquidity crisis occurs and price is skyrocketing in the millions of USD, you don't want to be exposed to an ETF. you won't necessarily be able to sell
anywhere near spot prices and you may get caught in market halts and liquidations while the rest of the BTC market chugs along.