Bitwise CIO: Next Year Will Be Even Better for Bitcoin ETFs

Matt Hougan thinks Bitcoin’s journey to becoming a mainstream asset class will be a multi-year one. Hougan is the Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of Bitwise Asset Management, which issues one of the Spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States. He calls its launch in January 2024 the “birth of a new asset class.”

Hougan compares Bitcoin to gold

Of course, the comparison with gold quickly comes up again in the interview.

“I think the right analogy to make is the approval of the original gold ETF in 2004. What I find interesting here is that it was one of the most successful ETF launches ever, raising $1.5 billion in capital in 2004.

But guess what? In 2005, the gold ETF raised over $3 billion, in 2006 it was over $4 billion, and in 2007 it was over $5 billion.

The gold ETF has been building year after year and that’s what few people realize about these ETFs. This was a huge first half of the year, but I think the second half could be even bigger and I think next year could be even bigger,” said a very optimistic Matt Hougan in an interview with CNBC.

Gold was a niche asset

In 2004, gold was still a niche asset, difficult to buy and not found in many mainstream portfolios, according to Hougan.

In a way that makes sense, because you had to buy physical gold before ETFs came on the market. There probably weren’t that many products you could buy to get exposure to gold.

Matt Hougan is very optimistic about the years ahead for Bitcoin ETFs. He also claims that ETF flows have been quite stable, regardless of the Bitcoin price.

What do you think? Will ETFs really be the breakthrough for Bitcoin on the financial world stage or is there more to it?

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