Amplify ETFs CEO: You Want to Own Bitcoin Amid Inflation
by Ben Strack, Blockworks
Excerpts taken from article:
Despite the recent market downturn, the head of Amplify ETFs is bullish on bitcoin as a hedge against inflation — and plans to ramp up exposure to the digital asset in the firm’s latest exchange-traded fund.
The company, perhaps best known for its Amplify Transformational Data ETF (BLOK), launched its Inflation Fighter ETF (IWIN) earlier this month.
The fund seeks to identify stocks and commodities — such as agriculture, energy, precious metals and bitcoin — positioned to weather inflation. The consumer price index increased 0.6% in January, pushing the year-over-year figure to 7.5% — the quickest rise since 1982.
“We’d argue that what’s happened in the last few months is more about a risk-off trade given the global macro environment of raising rates being expected from the US central bank,” Amplify CEO Christian Magoon told Blockworks. “Usually that global macro passes and factors matter, and we still think that bitcoin is something you want to own … in an inflationary environment.”
IWIN’s bitcoin exposure is capped at 20% of net assets and consists of bitcoin futures trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), including up to 15% in Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC). It does not hold bitcoin directly.
The fund’s allocation to GBTC and bitcoin futures will likely increase over time, Magoon said.
BLOK, the largest blockchain ETF in the US, has grown to about $1 billion since launching in January 2018.
Four years ago, the fund’s holdings were limited to several mining and semiconductor companies, as well as companies investing in private blockchain stakes. It now consists of more pure-play blockchain companies, Magoon noted.
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