Hello, again: Thanks for all the feedback from last weeks ETF Wrap. Please, keep it coming.
The Holy Grail for crypto enthusiasts has been a pure-play exchange-traded fund investing in crypto. It doesnt seem that were any closer to getting one, at least before the end of 2021. Gary Gensler,as the new chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, seems intent on ensuring that investor protections are in place for moving forward, and rightfully so.
But MarketWatch caught up with Matt Hougan, chief investment officer of Bitwise Asset Management, formerly the chief executive officer of ETF.com, whose new fund may hold some appeal for those pining for a bitcoin ETF. One selling point, is that the fund may retain its attraction even if a bitcoin ETF eventually emerges.
Send tips, or feedback, and find me on Twitter at @mdecambre to tell me what we need to be jumping on.
Sign up herefor ETF Wrap.
Weekly performance across the board for ETFs was lackluster as investors have been wrestling with the rising threat of inflation and have gravitated to themes and strategies they that they think will perform better in that environment.
Read: What does inflation mean for the stock market? Its supposed to be a positive but investors are spooked now
See: The biggest inflation scare in 40 years is comingwhat stock-market investors need to know
VanEcks oil-services CL.1, +0.80% fund registered a 2.4% return among the best performers over the week. And evidence of inflation bubbling up appears to be helping boost commodity-focused funds, more broadly, including those for copper HG00, -1.01% as the COVID-19 pandemic loosens its grip on parts of the world, amid a rollout of coronavirus vaccines and treatments.
A recent research report from FlexShares indicates that factors likevalue, size, and dividend yield, tend to post strong gains during economic recoveries like the one the U.S. is experiencing presently.
Given the historic relative outperformance of the size and value factors during an economic recoverywith an average excess return of 15% and 6.5% respectively during this type of environmentinvestors may want to considerETFs with a tilt towards value stocks and a smaller market capitalization, the folks at FlexShares write.
Bitwise Asset Management launched the Bitwise Crypto Industry Innovators ETF BITQ, -7.53% earlier this week.
There are plenty of funds that attempt to leverage from the growth in the crypto and blockchain market, but Hougan makes the argument that this fund is different primarily because its allowed to carry crypto in the title. That may sound like just window dressing but regulators compel a company/sponsor using a specific word in a funds name to put their money where their mouth is.
It is the first ETF that has cryptoin the name and the reason it is able to do that is that it is more than 80% is pure-play, companies, Hougan said.
The ETF pro thought that people are excited about the idea of a bitcoin BTCUSD, +2.52% fund because they are interested in the idea of the worlds No. 1 digital asset but may not want to hold it directly.
Bitcoin is inherently volatile and hard to value, which may be one reason why the SEC has thus far been hesitant to push forward with a ETF-wrapped crypto fund.
On Tuesday, the SEC in a statement said that investors should consider the volatility of bitcoin as well as the lack of regulation and potential for fraud or manipulation in the underlying Bitcoin market. The statement was a reference to the growing bitcoin futures market and mutual funds but the message implies that the SEC is moving gingerly in the sector.
On Thursday bitcoin prices on CoinDesk were down 10% at around $50,170, and had hit a 24-hour low of $46,294.12, a month after an all-time high around $64,000. Bitcoins slide accelerated on Wednesday after Musk said that he would no longer accept the crypto at Tesla stores. That has taken the broader digital-asset complex along for the ride lower, with assets tied to Ethereum ETHUSD, +6.56%, the second largest crypto in the world, also in the red. That includes meme asset dogecoin DOGEUSD, +34.33%.
BITQ consists of 30 companies and is market-cap weighted but capped at 10%. It has crypto platform Coinbase Global COIN, -6.53% as its biggest holding. Michael Saylors MicroStrategy Inc. MSTR, -9.93% is another significant component, as well as Mike Novogratzs Galaxy Digital Holdings GLXY, -11.74% and bitcoin miners Riot Blockchain RIOT, -16.18% and Marathon Digital Holdings MARA, -13.96%.
This isnt quite a bitcoin ETF, there are a bunch on file with the SEC, but for many investors who are able to stomach the wild moves of crypto, this could be a an alternative.
This is not a bitcoin ETF but it does hold the companies that are building out the [crypto] infrastructure, Hougan said.
It is worth noting that there is at least one notable entrant in the digital-asset world with a similar fund composition to BITQ.
VanEck Vectors Digital Transformation ETF DAPP, -7.23%, which made its debut last month, aims to give owners exposure to the digital transformation of the economy, and holds a number of the same companies as Bitwise but comes sans the crypto title and with a lower expense ratio at 0.65%, versus 0.85% for Bitwise.
DAPP is down early 16% so far this week.
Tech stocks have been punished in the recent selloff that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq Composite Index all get clobbered on Wednesday. But Cathie Woods Ark Innovation fund has seen the worst of the downturn in equities, reports The Wall Street Journal.
Continue reading here:
ETF Wrap: Is a new 'crypto' fund the long-awaited bitcoin ETF in disguise - MarketWatch
- The Worlds First Bitcoin Debit Card Is Almost Here [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2014]
- Google removes malware Android apps used to secretly mine bitcoin [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2014]
- Bitcoin runner-up Litecoin emerges as low-price challenger [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2014]
- How does Bitcoin work? - Bitcoin - Open source P2P money [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2014]
- Bitcoin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2014]
- POLICE STATE USA - COP Goes CRAZY at INNOCENT Black Guys Filming a Wal-Mart in Houston - Video [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2014]
- START MINING LITECOIN with Home Built LITECOIN MINING RIG (FORGET BITCOIN) ----- THE FUTUR - Video [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2014]
- Bitcoin going to $10,000 - Video [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2014]
- Bitcoin going over $1,000 - Video [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2014]
- Bitcoin Trading Robot - The First Automated Bitcoin Robot - Video [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2014]
- Bitcoin or Gold? Squawk Walk Taipei- Squawkonomics - Video [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2014]
- Bitcoin Miner AntMiner S1 180 - 200 GH/s Nu in de Aanbieding! - Video [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2014]
- New Bitcoin Documentary: Boom or Bust - Video [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2014]
- The Bitcoin Revolution Is Just Beginning (Full Interview) - Video [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2014]
- Market Extra: Bitcoin venture capital money hasnt kept up with buzz [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- Bitcoin Exchange BTC China Cuts Ties With China Merchants Bank [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- Bitcoin price slips as China steps up regulation [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- Bitcoin price slips on China regulation [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- Win .33 Bitcoin ($150 or so, Depending on BTC value) - Meme game for May 1st - Take My Bitcoins - Video [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- Bitcoin May v0.9.1 GitHub Source Code Development Visualization - Video [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- Jaromil on Russia TV about Bitcoin - Video [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- Atomic-Trade Bitcoin Exchange. AML, BSA, FinCEN compliant - Video [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- Breaks Down Bitcoin - global economic crisis - max Keiser - Video [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- The Bitcoin Group #27 - China Bans Bitcoin Again - Politics - Dark Market - Bitcoin VC - Video [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- Edan Yago - Free Market Bitcoin regulation and Honduras free trade zones.mp4 - Video [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- btc.sx Bitcoin derivatives platform George Samman clip - Video [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- China Bans Bitcoin Again -- Bitcoin the Movie -- Startup for Startups Raises 2,000 BTC - Video [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- Video: Roundup of This Week's Bitcoin News 25th April 2014 - Video [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- Bitcoin and the Internet of Money - Video [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- Virgin Group founder Richard Branson, why he's decided to accept Bitcoin for space travel? - Video [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- Bitcoin for Dummies - Video [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- Live Butterfly Labs Mining Cam- Take My BitCoins- win free Bitcoin - Video [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- Market Extra: Bitcoin is like the early Internet, minus the VC money [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- 'The Rise And Rise Of Bitcoin' Filmmaker: 'There Is No Answer Yet' [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- Bitcoin the movie: It just had to happen [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- Bitcoin [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- Bitcoin Expo 2014: Fireside Chat with Dr Gavin Wood - Video [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- reXBT.com Andreas M. Antonopoulos L.A. Bitcoin Meetup The Network Effect Part 2 of 8 - Video [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- Bitcoin: what happens when the miners pack up their gear? [Last Updated On: April 30th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 30th, 2014]
- New Bitcoin student club at MIT will promote the virtual currency [Last Updated On: April 30th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 30th, 2014]
- Dark Wallet Is About to Make Bitcoin Money Laundering Easier Than Ever [Last Updated On: April 30th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 30th, 2014]
- Bitcoin Vies with New Cryptocurrencies as Coin of the Cyber Realm [Last Updated On: April 30th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 30th, 2014]
- 4/29/14 - MIT Bitcoin Project, Mt Gox revival plan, Mastercard lobbyists & Team Rubicon - Video [Last Updated On: April 30th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 30th, 2014]
- Mini Bitcoin Mining Rig with 11 USB Block Erupter from ASICminer - Video [Last Updated On: April 30th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 30th, 2014]
- Is Bitcoin Over? Mt. Gox Pauses Withdrawals - Video [Last Updated On: April 30th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 30th, 2014]
- BitCoin Dentist GoCoin Fox News Interview - Video [Last Updated On: April 30th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 30th, 2014]
- Blockchain Bitcoin BitMe iNjector Instant wallet funds adder - Video [Last Updated On: April 30th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 30th, 2014]
- Bitcoin Generator Feb 2014 NO SURVEY - Video [Last Updated On: April 30th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 30th, 2014]
- Free Bitcoin Generator 2013 1 0v Download Miner Tool 2014 - Video [Last Updated On: April 30th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 30th, 2014]
- MAX KEISER - BITCOIN Is The FUTURE - Video [Last Updated On: April 30th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 30th, 2014]
- The Bitcoin Meetup - BitcoinMKE Hosts Jeffrey Tucker - Video [Last Updated On: April 30th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 30th, 2014]
- MIT Bitcoin Expo 2014 - Video [Last Updated On: April 30th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 30th, 2014]
- Bitcoin, gold and competitive currencies - Video [Last Updated On: April 30th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 30th, 2014]
- Bitcoin Foundation Election Hiccups -- Pathetic Ohio Bans Bitcoins -- Dogecon SF 2014 - Video [Last Updated On: April 30th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 30th, 2014]
- Keiser Report: Gold, Silver, Bitcoin FTW! (E527) - Video [Last Updated On: April 30th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 30th, 2014]
- Bitcoin Talk Show #7 -- Skype BitcoinTalkShow to Call in Live! 🙂 - Video [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- Bitcoin Turbo Miner | Fast Bitcoin Generator | NEW [Updated April 2014] Direct Download! No waiting! - Video [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- Basic Bitcoin Bitches - Video [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- Gold standard vs Fiat vs Bitcoin - Truthloader - Video [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- Bitcoin Exchange - Bitcoin Predictions & Live Market Action! - Video [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- The Bitcoin Revolution is Just Beginning (Preview) - Video [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- How to Defund the System: Bitcoin vs. the Central Banksters - Video [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- Bitcoin, Anarchy and Freedom with Roger Ver - Video [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- bitcoin dogecoin donations and i ramble a ton - Video [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- Techcrunch - Is Bitcoin or Litecoin The New Euro-Disrupt Europe 2013 (Part1) - Video [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- MIT Goes Bitcoin-Wild [Last Updated On: May 2nd, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 2nd, 2014]
- Bitcoin Weekly 2014 April 30: Bloomberg adds Bitcoin to their market index, MIT to produce campus-wide bitcoin ... [Last Updated On: May 2nd, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 2nd, 2014]
- 'Dark Wallet' wants to make Bitcoin even harder to trace [Last Updated On: May 2nd, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 2nd, 2014]
- Better than Bitcoin! Creating Multiple Sources of Income, Growing Tomatoes - Video [Last Updated On: May 2nd, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 2nd, 2014]
- What is Bitcoin? - Video [Last Updated On: May 2nd, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 2nd, 2014]
- James Altucher Discusses the Future of Twitter and the Bitcoin - Video [Last Updated On: May 2nd, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 2nd, 2014]
- Bitcoin made simple (video animation) - Video [Last Updated On: May 2nd, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 2nd, 2014]
- Jon Matonis: Bitcoin - The future of commerce? - Video [Last Updated On: May 2nd, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 2nd, 2014]
- $100 in Bitcoin Going to Every MIT Undergrad - Video [Last Updated On: May 2nd, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 2nd, 2014]
- Should I Invest in Bitcoin? Stock Market Investment Advice Mining, Price, Exchange, Value - Video [Last Updated On: May 2nd, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 2nd, 2014]
- The Rise of Digital Currency (documentary) - Video [Last Updated On: May 2nd, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 2nd, 2014]
- Bitcoin: How We Got Here and Where We Are Going [Last Updated On: May 3rd, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 3rd, 2014]
- CIA Bitcoin CONSPIRACY, SILVER TO BREAK THE ECONOMY - Andy Hoffman & Chris Duane - Video [Last Updated On: May 3rd, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 3rd, 2014]
- 5/1/14 - Larry Summers warns critics, Paym system & Bitcoin Center NYC roundtable - Video [Last Updated On: May 3rd, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 3rd, 2014]
- On est Connect S2 #07 1/2 : BitCoin et Musique sur Internet - Video [Last Updated On: May 3rd, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 3rd, 2014]