Bitcoin Perpetual Futures and ETFs Function Like Traditional Commodity Rental Model, Says Peng Fu

Gate News message, April 25 — Peng Fu, newly appointed chief economist at XinHuo Group, outlined his analysis of Bitcoin’s underlying business logic in a series of posts on X today. According to Fu, the commercial models of Bitcoin perpetual futures and ETFs are fundamentally identical to the “deferred fees” and “overnight charges” found in traditional finance’s precious metals and commodities spot trading, operating as a stable cash flow system where large holders collect rental income, retail traders using leverage pay fees, and platforms extract indirect commissions.

Fu characterized large-scale Bitcoin holders not as pure speculators but as “landlords collecting rent”: they maintain long-term positions while executing hedging operations to capture funding rates, continuously reducing their holding costs. Over time, as long as positions remain intact, costs approach zero or even turn negative. “Many people mistakenly believe large holders are only shorting. In reality, they are landlords collecting rent,” Fu stated. He drew parallels to CME Bitcoin futures basis, which he described as the market’s pricing of holding costs and rental fees—mirroring the logic of historical spot warehouse receipts, financing, and settlement mechanisms.

Fu’s analysis, presented from a hedge fund manager’s perspective, frames Bitcoin’s evolution from a purely sentiment-driven speculative asset to a mature asset class with structural positive returns—similar to gold or industrial commodities. Under this model, large holders and platforms emerge as long-term beneficiaries, while retail traders’ sustained leverage activity fundamentally amounts to paying rent to others.