Investor and author of “The Poor Dad of a Rich Father,” Robert Kiyosaki warns investors to be aware of holding Bitcoin (BTC), gold and silver through exchange sales funds.
Kiyosaki compared the ETF to having only “gun drawings” for self-defense. He said ETFs make assets like Bitcoin and bullion more accessible to everyday investors, but they don’t give investors physical ownership of the underlying products.
He wrote:
“It’s best to have real gold, silver, bitcoin, a gun.”
Kiyosaki’s skepticism is nothing new. He previously told his followers to throw away “fake money.” It means Fiat currency, and has turned its eye on bearer assets like Bitcoin, Gold and Silver as a hedge against inflation, weakening the US dollar.
He argued that if the institutions that issue them fail to hold sufficient reserves, the paper’s claims about hard assets would be worthless. He added that the crisis of confidence could lead to execution in ETFs or banks that are not sufficiently liquid and risk collapse.
ETFs have exploded in popularity. More investors are looking for exposure to cryptocurrencies and precious metals without dealing with refrigerated wallets and safes.
Several spot Bitcoin ETFs introduced in the US this year trade stocks billions of dollars worth of stocks regularly. But the convenience comes at a cost, Kiyosaki argues: You are buying a claim, not the assets themselves.
However, ETF experts like Bloomberg senior analyst Eric Barkunas believe such fears are unfounded. He told Cointelegraph that the ETF is subject to strict safety measures and legal separation between the publisher and the custodian.
He said:
“All shares in the ETF are connected to actual Bitcoin. This is one ratio and there are no papers.”
Balchunas admitted that the Crypto community often doubts traditional funding, but noted that the ETF sector has been operating under “Sterling’s reputation” for 30 years.
Balchunas said wealthy Bitcoin holders could actually be safe using ETFs. This is because self-capacity can be targeted for theft and ransom schemes. He added that physical gold and silver also carry storage and security costs that many retail investors can’t afford, and regulated funds may be a better bet for them.
This argument underscores the broader tension between proponents of decentralized assets and the traditional financial system. Products like the Spot Bitcoin ETF have led to billions of influxes and have opened digital assets to a larger audience, but skeptics such as Kiyosaki believe there is nothing better than personal ownership in the crisis.