Eric Balchunas, Bloomberg's leading ETF analyst, has predicted that Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) could "triple" gold ETFs over the years during a recent appearance on the "Coin Stories" podcast hosted by journalist Natalie Brunell.  

While gold is also used by investors to hedge against inflation and dollar devaluation, it is really boring, according to Balchunas.

The expert has noted that investors tend to look for "a little action." "Gold does not give you the hot sauce spice kick that is really in demand right now," he said. 

With Bitcoin, investors can get both the hot sauce due to high volatility and the store, Balchunas argues. "For that reason that's why I think it it does have more potential than gold did," he added.  

US-based gold ETFs have $138.5 billion worth of assets under management across 35 products. 

According to data provided by Dune Analytics, Bitcoin ETFs have a total of $67.8 billion worth of total on-chain holdings. 

Who's buying Bitcoin ETFs? 

Balchunas has noted that only big institutions file 13F forms with the SEC, and the overwhelming majority of ETF buyers remain anonymous. "It's tough to say exactly who's coming from where," he added. 

As reported by U.Today, Jim Bianco of Bianco Research recently argued that spot ETFs were simply sucking coins out of crypto-native exchanges like Coinbase. 

While Balchunas believes that some exchange users might have switched to ETFs, he is convinced that fresh money is entering these products as well. "I think a lot of people are new. There is some fresh cash. How could there not be?" he said.