Pieces of paper are what distinguish between legal and illegal, private property and public resources, signed contracts and empty promises.

Fractional reserve banking is the economic power base of many federal governments. Governments cannot afford a consumer-exodus away from fiat. This is why gold-backed currencies are swiftly and violently eradicated. Yet bitcoin is too decentralized to be destroyed with brute force. ETFs and licensed exchanges give government oversight over investors. They can allow law enforcement to freeze criminal assets, and auditors to track finances. There is more transparency, flexibility, and accountability than a trustee-held wallet. I believe that big banks want to corner the market and destabilize the price of bitcoin, in order to prevent a breakthrough from destabilizing the economy. Everyone is worried about inflation, and bankers know that hyperinflation can destroy a country. If banks cannot corner a market then they need to diversify their assets to protect the purchasing power of the fiat they issue. Owning bitcoin mitigates the risk of a bitcoin breakthrough, and at the same time allows bitcoin to be incorporated into the fractional reserve system as collateral, allowing governments and banks to maintain their leverage over the national economy. Hedge funds have more buying power than independent investors. A group of banks can 'issue' out much more fiat than they actually own, so their buying power is very, very high. In the short-term, this is good. In the long-term, it may lead to stifling regulation and increased volatility, because banks want a monopoly on merchant-transactions.

Edit: I believe some ETFs were already approved since February? Nasdaq NextGen Economy (BLCN) by Reality Shares, Transformational Data Sharing (BLOK) by Amplify, First Trust (LEGR), and for Canada there’s Harvest Portfolios (HBLK) and Evolve Funds Inc. (LINK). Who were they approved by?