Coinbase is the asset holder of eight out of nine ETH ETFs and ten out of eleven spot Bitcoin ETFs. Though Gabor Gurbacs, the strategic advisor for Tether, raises serious concerns about the risk management and judgment of fund issuers, the Coinbases security team is unquestionably top-notch.
Boards and risk management committees that find it appropriate to place so many of the assets of ETFs in the hands of one company raises concerns about their judgment. The inherent risk of giving one custodian control over practically all assets on the ETF market is the basis of Gurbacs’ criticism.
Given that there have been problems in the exchange area in the past, he implies that there is a chance that something will go wrong. His position is that an excessive amount of reliance on one party puts the market as a whole at intolerable risk. Gurbacs is extremely concerned about the safety of even conventional assets with most issuers, because of his recent experiences.
However, despite his criticism, Gurbacs admits to having previously supported Coinbase by referring important clients there.
Gurbacs concurs with some followers who claim that Wall Street favors extreme centralization, pointing to a larger industry trend that prioritizes control over diversified risk management.
Centralizing assets under one custodian can be risky, particularly in the still-evolving and relatively new cryptocurrency industry. Despite the strength of Coinbase’s security measures, systemic vulnerabilities may arise from the company’s reliance on only one provider. These risks would be reduced by distributing the exposure among several safe entities through diversified custodianship.
