Matt Hougan - “Anyone Who Tells You They Know What’s Going to Happen in Crypto Is Probably Lying to You" | #109
In Episode 109, we welcome ETF and crypto expert, Matt Hougan. After a quick, fun story about Matt’s first job…as a 9-foot tall seal mascot for a minor league baseball team…Meb asks about the state of the ETF industry – where we are today, and where we’re going. Matt tells us that ETFs have become a dominant force in investing. Since the financial crisis, some $2 trillion of capital has flowed into ETFs. In comparison, the mutual fund industry has seen $0 inflows during that time. In terms of issues that are shaping ETFs and will continue to do so over the coming years, Matt points toward fee wars, distribution networks, and the growing reality that it’s getting harder for smaller companies to get a foothold within the ETF space.
Key Points
- Cryptocurrency is increasingly seen as a legitimate asset class, with institutional underpinnings such as trading, management, and custody becoming more established, and it's expected that more professional money, including RIA and family offices, will enter the space in the coming years.
- The Bitwise 10 Crypto Index Fund seeks to capture the broad crypto market by creating institutional-grade indexes that account for factors such as combined prices from various exchanges, forecasted inflation of assets, and rules to avoid inclusion of dubious coins.
- The SEC has been cautious about approving a cryptocurrency ETF due to concerns about custody, arbitrageability, price determination, and market manipulation, but regulatory barriers are expected to diminish, making it likely for an ETF to be approved in the near future.
Resources: Research Affiliates work on ETFs World’s Lowest Cost ETF Portfolio EquBot Unscaled: How AI and a New Generation of Upstarts Are Creating the Economy of the Future Ric Edelman on The Meb Faber Show in April 2017 Staff Letter: Engaging on Fund Innovation and Cryptocurrency-related Holdings Jimmy Kimmel and Ted Cruz 1-on-1 basketball game
Chapters
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| 5:04 | |
| 10:38 | |
| 14:13 | |
| 26:18 | |
| 30:10 | |
| 35:53 | |
| 47:50 | |
| 1:00:43 | |
| 1:09:39 | |
| 1:13:16 |
Transcript
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