[rkagerer]

Not that I would ever buy a BTC ETF since it precisely negates what I believe Bitcoin to be useful for

Yeah I know what you mean, although one competitive advantage of the fund is it can be invested in a tax-free savings accounts not subject to capital gains tax (I haven't seen a practical way to do the same with the raw commodity).

[MacsHeadroom]

You can hold raw Bitcoin in a self-directed IRA. You just hold it and do the paperwork. You can hold just about anything in a self-directed IRA, including beanie babies.

[rkagerer]

Is there an equivalent in Canada?

[lxgr]

Sure, being able to rebalance without incurring a tax bill is nice, as is not having to worry about procuring the right type of tax forms since your brokerage does most of the work for you.

But is there actually a difference for pure buy-and-hold investors in most jurisdictions?

I know of at least one jurisdiction where an ETF is actually disadvantaged against physically holding cryptocurrency.