Blockchain ETFs vs. Bitcoin ETFs: What's the Difference?

What is blockchain technology?

To understand blockchain, you first require to study the definition of the technology. At its core, blockchain decreases the chance of fraud, corruption, or the tarnishing of data by a central administration. By democratizing access to data on an open ledger that everyone can see, the technology creates it nearly impossible for a single party to manipulate facts.

By linking verified data and creating it accessible to everyone, blockchain also simplifies and automates procedures that might have formerly been inefficient, such as manually recording facts. For example, Walmart (WMT) uses blockchain to ensure food safety, tracing products back to the farm. So in case of an E. coli or salmonella outbreak, the trader can fast pinpoint the source, preventing contaminated food from spreading.

Large corporations such as PayPal (PYPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Salesforce (CRM), Starbucks (SBUX), and IBM (IBM) use blockchain for infrastructure, digital security, and automation, among other uses.

How to invest in blockchain

Outside of crypto trading and particular products, investors can gain exposure to the blockchain through exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

A blockchain ETF has a basket of publicly traded firms disclosed to the technology. These units can either instantly use blockchain or profit from their services that support the industry.

services that support the industry. It’s essential to note that blockchain ETFs don’t directly hold cryptocurrency assets. Instead, these funds are designed to invest in global organizations, of which many are blue-chip technology names.

Top blockchain ETFs

This niche spot of the ETF market stays fairly uncrowded, with only a handful of players in the space. And since there are no pure-play blockchain businesses, most of the holdings in these funds tend to coincide with other broad-based ETFs.

Below we underline the names with the most assets under management.

Amplify Transformational Data Sharing ETF (BLOK)

BLOK is the most recognized blockchain ETF on the market. This actively managed fund sets global companies to develop and apply blockchain technologies.

Top holdings: Coinbase Global (COIN), SBI Holdings, NVIDIA (NVDA), CME Group (CME), and Silvergate Capital (SI)

Expense ratio: 0.71 percent

Assets under management: $968 million

Siren NASDAQ NexGen Economy ETF (BLCN)

BLCN owns global groups supporting the growth and research of blockchain technology.

Top holdings: American Express (AXP), Mastercard (MA), Coinbase Global (COIN), Accenture (ACN), and Marathon Digital (MARA)

Expense ratio: 0.68 percent

Assets under management: $183 million

First Trust Indxx Innovative Transaction & Process ETF (LEGR)

LEGR presents exposure to a global portfolio of businesses with differing degrees of involvement in the blockchain.

Top holdings: Alibaba Group (BABA), Accenture (ACN), PayPal Holdings (PYPL), Mastercard (MA), and JD.com (JD)

Expense ratio: 0.65 percent

Assets under management: $147 million

Bitwise Crypto Industry Innovators (BITQ)

BITQ carries an index of 30 crypto firms from around the world. Some of these terms emanate more than 75 percent of their revenues from crypto assets.

Top holdings: Silvergate Capital (SI), MicroStrategy (MSTR), Coinbase Global (COIN), Northern Data, Riot Blockchain (RIOT)

Expense ratio: 0.85 percent

Assets under management: $112 million

Global X Blockchain ETF (BKCH)

BKCH supports global organizations partaking in blockchain activities like digital asset mining and integration.

Top holdings: Marathon Digital (MARA), Riot Blockchain (RIOT), Coinbase Global (COIN), Northern Data, Voyager Digital

Expense ratio: 0.50 percent

Assets under management: $103 million

What is a Crypto ETF?

To answer that, we must back up a little. An exchange-traded fund, or ETF, is a financial instrument that follows the value of a particular asset or a group of assets. Its main advantage is that it authorizes investors to diversify their holdings without actually holding any of the investments themselves. For instance, a gold ETF would track the importance of gold reserves it represents. Similarly, a Crypto ETF would track the value of one or more crypto assets and a Bitcoin ETF would track the value of just a bitcoin.

Significantly, ETFs are traded on traditional market exchanges rather than crypto exchanges.

Bitcoin ETFs already live in some countries. Many such funds have been established in Brazil, Europe, Canada, and Dubai just this year. But authorization from the SEC represents the Holy Grail for cryptocurrency enthusiasts — one that would spur the adoption of Crypto ETFs worldwide and give further legitimacy to cryptocurrencies in the procedure. SEC approval is important not just because the US is the world’s biggest and most sophisticated financial market. It now also accounts for the biggest percentage of the share market in the world's bitcoin mining as China has been cracking down on crypto miners and traders since May.

How do Crypto ETFs work?

The primary appeal of Crypto ETFs is that they perform exactly like ETFs backed by traditional assets. They reach in two forms:

Physical-backed: To make this kind of Crypto ETF, an asset Management Company must buy some actual coins from the market, just as it would buy shares for a traditional ETF. It can then place up a fund that conveys the importance of the crypto assets it holds and lists it for trading on the stock exchange. If the value of the fund’s digital coins boosts, so does the value of your investment.

Futures-backed: In this type of ETF, claims in the fund aren’t based on real coins but crypto futures agreements. A futures agreement is just an agreement to buy or sell an asset at a predetermined price at a fixed time in the future. These are less dangerous than physical-backed ETFs because there are no physical assets to be protected. This is the kind of Bitcoin ETF the SEC is reportedly set to support.

Pros of Crypto ETFs

Convenient: When it comes to crypto, the major benefit ETFs have over direct investments is that investors don’t have to control the underlying asset. While crypto businesses have made it more comfortable to buy and sell cryptocurrency in the past few years, things like placing up digital wallets and comprehending how private and public keys work remain hindrances to large-scale crypto adoption. Crypto ETFs let investors profit from the new asset class with their current brokerage accounts.

Safe(r): Since they’re traded to conventional exchanges, all ETFs are highly regulated. This suggests regulators can watch and examine their performance and protect against price manipulation within the ETF markets. However, the underlying asset’s price can remain to be manipulated through unregulated crypto exchanges. Crypto businesses and wallets are also susceptible to hacking attacks and stealing. Crypto ETFs guard against these threats as you don’t own any actual crypto. And in a future- backed Crypto ETF, the reserve doesn’t own any crypto either.

Cheaper: Buying a large collection of cryptocurrencies is a long and complex procedure that involves opening accounts with several crypto exchanges and supporting multiple digital wallets. Crypto ETFs give you direction — albeit indirectly — to multiple crypto assets through a single investment. ETF fees are also typically lower than those of traditional organized funds.

Cons of Crypto ETFs

Limited choice: There are rare such funds presently available to invest in. But if the SEC were to open the door to Crypto ETFs, that could change fast. The limited preference is a concern at the asset level, too. Traditional ETFs contain a wide range of securities to minimize risk. But most Crypto ETFs way only a few digital currencies.

Crypto-related risks: While they are in some methods safer than investing instantly in cryptocurrencies, Crypto ETFs nonetheless carries over many of the risks of the underlying assets they represent. Cryptocurrencies are explosive and so are Crypto ETFs. And physical-backed funds, which buy and store genuine cryptocurrencies, ought to manage other crypto-related threats, such as hacking.

A cop-out to cryptocurrency purists, these virtual assets convey a hedge against fiat currencies and the central banks and governments that control them. A Bitcoin ETF would by definition be regulated by a government, and investors wouldn’t be buying any crypto either.

Cryptocurrency vs. Blockchain ETFs: How these investments differ

For those curious about digital currencies, it’s important to note that there aren’t many cryptocurrency ETFs in fact, so you don’t have a lot of choices yet. But you do have other methods to hold cryptos instantly or through futures contracts.

If you like to trade digital currencies like Bitcoin, you can access specialized crypto exchanges like Coinbase, eToro, or Binance.

Alternatively, some of the finest traditional brokers to buy and sell crypto have Charles Schwab and Interactive Brokers, which offer Bitcoin futures contracts.

Final Thoughts

Hence both these ETF choices need development to be better and be more flourishing. They both need to operate on their weak links to gain great success in the market. In general, we can contend that the new trend is of ‘Digital Currencies’ that have become an important thing for investors.

If you still have any confusion regarding why to invest in bitcoin or global blockchain technologies stock and how to invest in Bitcoin ETF, then the only thing left for you to do is find a reliable and trustworthy blockchain development company. A good blockchain development company like PerfectionGeeks Technologies will assist you to expand your decentralized journey and keep you updated with Bitcoin ETF news.