The crypto revolution was finally taken to new heights when the SEC approved 11 Bitcoin spot ETFs in January 2024. Global investors flooded in like never seen before, adding almost $5 billion of inflows on the first day of trading. As a result, the crossover between traditional finance and digital assets is now firmly established, and a new door of opportunities for crypto will open as the market continues to mature. This marks the end of a decade-long struggle for legitimacy, showcasing the success of progress not only in blockchain<\/a> technology itself but also in the public\u2019s perception of money. Crypto is here to stay.<\/p>\n In the early years of Bitcoin, many native crypto investors believed that Wall Street needed Bitcoin but not vice versa. This one-way love affair was true for a while, but mostly because of the lack of regulatory clarity worldwide. <\/p>\n The crossover from traditional finance to crypto has always been limited and cautious as every time there was a market correction, experts from Wall Street were more than eager to declare \u201cBitcoin is dead,\u2019 or \u2018the bubble finally burst\u201d. In fact, the assumed death of Bitcoin occurred almost more than 400 times according to research on Binance, but every revival and bull run didn\u2019t swing skepticism of this emerging technology. Traditional finance seems to have finally woken up and accepted that the world has changed since the last global financial crisis and is ready for crypto. <\/p>\n But now that the Bitcoin ETF has arrived, the crypto industry celebrates the milestone with mixed feelings. Indeed, it was quite a journey to get there. ETF approval started back in 2013 with the launch of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust. Gemini’s spot application in the same year was eventually rejected in 2017. Then, the first futures ETF launched in 2021, paving the way for an eventual spot approval this month. <\/p>\n Since the first approval, many early crypto investors pushed back against the spot ETF. They continue to hold onto the belief of \u2018not your keys, not your coins.\u2019 Ultimately their concern is that mainstream institutionalization that these ETFs represent will challenge the decentralization concept held dearly by many in the crypto community. <\/p>\n Bitcoin investors are right to be cautious about centralization, and we are indeed heading in a new direction by embracing traditional finance. Rather than holding on to stale beliefs, it\u2019s now time for the Bitcoin industry to transform the existing outdated infrastructure and focus on welcoming more people to enjoy the benefits of digital assets. <\/p>\n We should not forget that one of the fundamental purpose of Bitcoin was financial inclusion and to help the unbanked. But now with the high cost of transaction fees on the Bitcoin network and the increasingly monopolized mining industry, the playing field has tilted to favor those with the most resources and scale of operations.<\/p>\n