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The approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs in January kicked off a frenzy as investors poured billions of dollars into the brand-new investment vehicles launched by financial mainstays like BlackRock and Fidelity. But even as the total trading volume of the asset class passed $200 billion, Jan van Eck, CEO of the asset manager VanEck, one of the major issuers, said that Bitcoin ETFs are still in their infancy.
Speaking to Fortune on the sidelines of Paris Blockchain Week, van Eck said brokerage platforms aren’t yet allowing advisors to recommend Bitcoin ETFs, though there have been reports that firms such as Morgan Stanley are evaluating them. “Those are our biggest customer bases,” van Eck told Fortune. “So there’s a long ways to go.”
For now, the demand has mainly come from retail customers, although he expects that to change as platforms gain approval to start pushing Bitcoin ETFs. “Paper moves first in this world, and then decisions get made,” van Eck said, predicting that the shift could come this quarter.
‘Don’t get disrupted’
Founded by van Eck’s father in 1955, VanEck has long been at the forefront of alternative assets. John van Eck pivoted to gold investing as he worried about inflation, launching the first U.S. gold stock fund in 1968. “If you’re running a business, you’ve got to make sure that you don’t get disrupted,” his son told Fortune.
In 2017, VanEck became the first ETF issuer to file for a spot Bitcoin ETF, a few years after the Winklevoss-led Gemini applied for one in 2013. The Securities and Exchange Commission rejected potential issuers, with the approval process eventually moving forward after the crypto firm Grayscale sued the agency to convert its Bitcoin trust into an ETF.
Now, with seven companies, including VanEck, applying for a spot Ethereum ETF, van Eck expressed skepticism that the agency would move forward with an approval. “Paperwork usually precedes action from a regulator,” he said, “and there’s no paperwork movements.”
He added that another lawsuit likely would be necessary to push the agency for approval, but there may be less appetite among stakeholders for another lengthy court battle.
‘People thought they were totally crazy’
With a crowded field of 12 Bitcoin ETFs, the question is whether the field will consolidate, with some issuers pulling out or acquiring competitors. VanEck is currently middle of the pack with around $600 million of assets under management, with BlackRock and Fidelity running away with the field.
Despite his firm’s slower start, van Eck said he’s been pleased with the progress. “We’d love to have $600 million in an ETF in its first three months,” he told Fortune. “The chances of that happening statistically in the ETF industry is probably 1%.” Still, he cautioned that due to the low management fees many of the issuers are charging, the vehicles won’t be profit drivers.
Another question is whether issuers will branch out to other custodians, after every firm, with the exception of VanEck, initially chose Coinbase. VanEck instead went with Gemini, which van Eck said was a “tip of the hat” to the firm being the first to apply for a Bitcoin ETF. “People thought they were totally crazy when they filed,” he told Fortune. He added that the firm would soon add a backup custodian.
VanEck is also expanding into other areas of crypto. In early April, van Eck’s son, Nick, announced the launch of his own digital asset firm, a stablecoin company called Agora. His father’s company would serve as the manager of its reserves, similar to how Cantor Fitzgerald holds U.S. Treasuries for Tether.
Despite Tether’s dominance in the stablecoin landscape, van Eck said there’s room for competition, especially with Tether’s wildcat status in the U.S. “A lot of firms are going through regulatory approval,” he told Fortune. “There’s plenty of room for exchanges to use other stables.”
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