Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)

This New Blockchain ETF Is Outperforming the Competition

Bitcoin may have been the biggest story of 2017, but the blockchain technology it is based on may be an even bigger force to be reckoned with in the future.

Investors who are looking to “get their foot in the door” with blockchain may want to check out Amplify Transformational Data Sharing ETF (BLOK), an actively managed fund that invests in companies around the globe which are in the blockchain space. Blockchain provides a record of new transactions, such as the change in the location of cryptocurrency, research data, or voting records.

Owning a cryptocurrency such as bitcoin gives you a “private key” of sorts into the blockchain record. BLOK is extremely new to the market, having been launched simultaneously in mid-January 2018 with another blockchain-oriented fund, BCLN. Investors promptly found both exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and poured an estimated $262 million into them in only two weeks.

Compared head to head with BCLN, BLOK is performing better so far. As of Jan. 27, BLOK rose 4.75 since its inception, compared to 3.22% for BCLN. As of Jan. 26, BLOK had more than twice BCLN’s assets under management, with $174 million compared to $87 million for BCLN. BLOK’s expense ratio sits at 0.70%.

The companies held in this fund are big names in their respective technology spaces and part of the general blockchain conversation. For example, investors who are paying attention to the blockchain craze will not be surprised to find NVIDIA (NVDA) and Overstock.com (OSTK) among BLOK’s holdings. There are not too many holdings in this fund yet, so its performance is likely to be characterized by bigger moves than many larger ETFs.

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The top holdings for BLOK are Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM), 6.13%; Digital Garage (DLGEF), 5.79%; Overstock.com Inc. (OSTK), 5.46%; SBI Holdings Inc. (SBHGF), 5.43%; and NVIDIA Corp. (NVDA), 4.61%. The top 10 holdings comprise 47.4% of assets.

ETFs come in all shapes and sizes, and for those on the hunt for blockchain companies, the new Amplify Transformational Data Sharing ETF (BLOK) could be a worthwhile starting point for consideration.

Jim Woods

Jim Woods is a 20-plus-year veteran of the markets with varied experience as a broker, hedge fund trader, financial writer, author and newsletter editor. Jim is the editor of Intelligence Report, Successful Investing, the Bullseye Stock Trader, and The Deep Woods (formerly the Weekly ETF Report). His books include co-authoring, “Billion Dollar Green: Profit from the Eco Revolution,” and “The Wealth Shield: How to Invest and Protect Your Money from Another Stock Market Crash, Financial Crisis or Global Economic Collapse.” He’s also ghostwritten many books and articles, as well as edited content for some of the investment industry’s biggest luminaries. His articles have appeared on many leading financial websites, including StockInvestor.com, InvestorPlace.com, Main Street Investor, MarketWatch, Street Authority, Human Events and many others. Jim formerly worked with Investor’s Business Daily founder William J. O’Neil, helping to author training courses in the CANSLIM stock-picking methodology. The independent firm TipRanks rates Jim the No. 3 financial blogger in the world (out of more than 6,000). TipRanks calculates that, since 2012, he's made 361 successful recommendations out of 499 total, earning a success rate of 72% and a +15.3% average return per recommendation. He is known in professional and personal circles as “The Renaissance Man,” because his expertise includes such varied fields as composing and performing music; Western horsemanship, combat marksmanship, martial arts, auto racing and bodybuilding. Jim holds a BA in philosophy from the University of California, Los Angeles, and is a former U.S. Army paratrooper. A self-described “radical for capitalism,” he celebrates the virtue of making money from his Southern California horse ranch.