Wall Street is raining on the red-hot blockchain ETF parade

Two recently launched blockchain exchange-traded funds are off to a scorching start.
But not every market-watcher is convinced that the funds are a solid investment.

Two blockchain exchange-traded funds that began trading this month are off to a scorching-hot start, but some market watchers are raining on the parade.

Earlier this month, Reality Shares and Amplify ETFs launched funds that aim to provide investors exposure to blockchain technology, which is best known for powering cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin. The size of Amplify's blockchain ETF, which trades under the ticker BLOK, has ballooned to $180 million in the ten days since it began trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Reality Shares' Nasdaq NexGen ETF, which trades under the ticker BLCN on Nasdaq, has soared past $100 million, the company announced Wednesday.

Still, UBS said in a note out to clients Wednesday that blockchain, a distributed ledger technology, is too nascent a tech to properly capture in a fund.

"What we believe is important to consider when investing in a fund targeting an emerging industry is that, often times, pure-plays do not exist," the bank said.

Since pure-play blockchain companies that are fully built around and focused on the new technology don't really exist (yet), funds attempting to offer exposure to the space will invest in companies that are to some degree integrating blockchain into their infrastructure, even if their core businesses lie elsewhere.

For example, Overstock, one of the companies included in the Reality Shares ETF, has a venture arm that invests in blockchain startups, but its main business is in ecommerce. The problem, according to UBS, is that blockchain won't have a meaningful impact on those businesses in the near-term.

"If as an investor you are targeting early [distributed ledger technology] investment, either with an individual company or with an index, ensure that you are comfortable with the company or index members' fundamentals as a whole, as we believe this will be what drives returns over the short-to-medium-term," the bank said.

Kian Salehizadeh, a senior analyst at Reality Shares, told Business Insider that UBS' point about there being no pure-plays in the space is valid.

"You are not going to have any fund that would be made up completely of pure-plays," Salehizadeh said.

"The fund is structured so that you are getting a mix of US and global players involved in the eco-system at various stages," he added. "It is a long term play."

One investor, however, said he is skeptical about whether these funds offer a unique alternative to other funds on the market.

Wall Street is raining on the red-hot blockchain ETF parade

Enhance Your Pulse News Experience!

JOIN OUR PULSE COMMUNITY!