TechFlow News: On April 25, Fu Peng, Chief Economist of HuoBi Group, posted on X stating that commodity ETFs essentially package the business model of “holding commodities long-term and generating continuous rental income” into compliant financial products. Fund managers focus not on the commodity market’s outlook but rather on the asset’s capacity to generate steady “rental” income. Since BitMEX launched the world’s first BTC perpetual contract—and introduced the funding rate mechanism—on May 13, 2016, long-term BTC holders have been able to earn rental income via hedging strategies. Consequently, BTC has evolved from a pure faith-based speculative asset into a “rental asset” underpinned by stable, positive cash flow logic.
The costs paid by retail participants when trading derivatives form the foundation for large-position holders’ risk-free hedging rental income. This income is then packaged into ETF-like products and sold to liquidity providers (LPs); the proceeds raised are subsequently used to purchase Bitcoin, creating a virtuous cycle that reduces volatility and reinforces BTC’s income-generating properties.
