New Voices

Reggie Browne on ‘Wacky’ ETF Ideas, Mutual Fund Conversions, and Bitcoin

The renowned market maker, aka Mr. ETF, says the industry could reach $30 trillion assets under management in a few decades.

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By Scarlet Fu

April 1, 2022 at 9:00 AM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

This article is part of the April 4, 2022 issue of businessweek.

Reginald Browne, a principal at the trading firm GTS, is a market maker who’s played a key role in developing the $7 trillion exchange-traded fund industry. ETFs need exchange-registered traders like Browne to ensure there’s liquidity for their shares so investors get the prices they expect.

There have been a lot of attempts to launch a U.S. ETF that invests directly in Bitcoin, but regulators have rebuffed them. What do you make of them?
To trade an actual Bitcoin, it’s pretty expensive, and no one understands the implicit costs that you’re paying. The ETF community does a good job of democratizing those costs quickly. We’re looking forward to trading a spot Bitcoin ETF because we’re going to flatten the costs, open it to a wide range of investors, and then bring more liquidity. So I’m advocating for a Bitcoin ETF.