The Rise of Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Funds
The long-awaited Bitcoin exchange-traded funds launched in January, and financial advisors are slowly — albeit slowly — embracing their implementation, according to Samara Cohen of BlackRock.
Currently, about 80% of Bitcoin ETF purchases are likely being made by «do-it-yourself investors who have done their own allocation, often through an online brokerage account,» she said, speaking at the Coinbase cryptocurrency Summit in New York on Thursday. The iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) was one of the funds that debuted this year.
Cohen, BlackRock’s Chief Investment Officer for ETF and index investments, noted that hedge funds and brokerage firms are also buying the funds, as evidenced by purchases from the 13-F reports from the previous quarter, but registered investment advisers were a little more «cautious».
Concerns and Caution Among Advisors
Recently CNBC consulted its advisory board on why they and their colleagues are so cautious about new products that represent a regulated and familiar investment product for a new asset class that has attracted significant interest in recent years. The answers ranged from the famous price volatility of Bitcoin to the fact that this cryptocurrency is still too young to have a significant historical track record. Regulatory compliance and the reputation of cryptocurrency in fraud and scandal also concern advisors.
