Todd Mathias, Head of U.S. ETF Product Strategy & Development at Franklin Templeton, joined Keith Black, Managing Director of RIA Channel, to discuss investor adoption of spot crypto ETFs.
The spot bitcoin ETFs launched in the U.S. in January 2024 have seen strong interest from a variety of investors, including retail, institutions, and hedge funds. ETFs are an attractive vehicle for investors who value cost and tax efficiency. Mathias is encouraged by the speed at which large platforms and home offices have approved client access to spot crypto ETFs. The large asset flows into spot bitcoin ETFs have proven that investor demand is robust.
Investors find the product convenient, as spot bitcoin ETFs can be accessed in a traditional brokerage account without the wallet and private keys required to purchase spot bitcoin. Now that the spot bitcoin ETFs have been trading for several months, investors have the data to study asset growth, trading costs, relative performance, and the difference in fees, as some waivers have expired while others are still in place.
Now that the SEC has approved the launch of spot bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, there is the potential for the launch of ETFs holding other digital assets. Mathias notes that there are now engaging conversations between the SEC and large-scale asset managers with hopes that the increasingly open dialog can broaden product offerings, which can allow investors to further diversify their digital asset holdings in the ETF wrapper.
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