Douglas Boneparth, the president and founder of Bona Fide Wealth, recently articulated his perspective on bitcoin, describing it as a digital equivalent of gold or a store of value in the digital realm. In addition, Boneparth further highlighted the contrasts in approach between traditional trade finance behemoths such as Blackrock and Fidelity, and those more ingrained in the cryptocurrency world, such as Bitwise and Vaneck.
Investments That Produce Alpha — ‘These Are Things That Clients Will Always Have Some Appetite for,’ Says Boneparth
In a recent discussion, Douglas Boneparth, president and founder of Bona Fide Wealth, shed light on the emerging spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and the categorization of bitcoin as an asset class. Engaging with Eric Balchunas, Bloomberg’s senior ETF analyst, on the “Bloomberg ETF IQ” show, Boneparth compared bitcoin to what he terms digital gold.
“I do view it in its most simplistic form as digital gold, as a digital store of value,” Boneparth said. “Now granted store of value and the price action of bitcoin might not go hand in hand, but also, you know, the room for alternative investments in a portfolio. I think clients are always seeking things that aren’t correlated or have the ability to produce alpha. You know, to a degree, these are things that clients will always have some appetite for.”
When queried about the volume of incoming inquiries regarding the new spot bitcoin ETF, particularly from the ‘baby boomer’ generation, the Bona Fide Wealth president noted a lack of significant inbound calls. “I definitely wanted to see a handful of people, particularly baby boomers, who had no interest in moving money to an exchange to buy cryptocurrency to get a position there,” Boneparth remarked. “I mostly work with mid to late 30-something-year-olds and we’ve been having conversations and educational conversations around cryptocurrency and bitcoin. Well before there was product offering.”
During the show, host Katie Greifeld inquired of Boneparth about his perception of the differences between native crypto companies such as Bitwise and established trade finance firms like Blackrock and Fidelity. Boneparth referenced Bitwise’s contributions to Bitcoin Core developers, suggesting that for those who are “a believer in all things blockchain and crypto,” a crypto-native fund might be more appealing. Ultimately, Boneparth concluded, it remains to be seen which will surpass the other as time progresses.
“This is something that do they have an edge over the, you know, massive shop that is a Blackrock or Fidelity and I know their crypto desks are pretty robust and they have a lot of smart people,” Boneparth told Greifeld. “They’re just the same. So we’re going to find out if it makes sense to choose a native versus one of the big players.
What do you think about the Bona Fide Wealth president’s statements? Share your thoughts and opinions about this subject in the comments section below.
