Volt Crypto Industry Revolution and Tech ETF pops in debut

Tad Park, Volt Equity CEO, joins the Yahoo Finance Live panel to discuss the launch of a new Bitcoin-linked ETF.

Video transcript

ZACK GUZMAN: Welcome in to Yahoo Finance Live. As we are past the noon Eastern time trading hour, we're checking out Bitcoin's latest action here as it has reclaimed the $60,000 level after briefly dipping below that mark, now beyond 61,000, as there is another Bitcoin futures linked ETF coming to market now trading. That would be the one offered by Volt Equity. As you see there, the Volt Crypto Industry Revolution and Tech ETF seeing about a 1% pop as it makes its debut on the New York Stock Exchange.

And for more on what that offers to the market, happy to be joined here by the CEO of Volt Equity, Tad Park joins us now. And Tad, it's interesting because all of these are trying to differentiate just slightly from the other one. And of course, they've all been following the ProShares debut that happened last week here. But talk to me about what this one offers because it sounds like you're adding a little bit of juice here. You're adding a little bit of exposure to some of these Bitcoin-linked stocks we've been talking about as well, perhaps MicroStrategy, Bitfarms, some other miners. So what are you hoping, I guess, this appeals to?

TAD PARK: Yeah, yeah, so I think all those other ETFs that have been coming out, they're basically tracking in, like, a vanilla way the Bitcoin's price through futures. But ours is different because we're the first ones to overlay options on the Bitcoin industry. And we actually have the potential to outperform. So we think that, you know, this is very exciting. Hopefully, we think that this is very exciting for investors that want a little bit of a management twist to an ETF and the ability to outperform because we put options on there. Basically, we are bullish on Bitcoin. And if Bitcoin hits, they can actually outperform Bitcoin. And that's why we're really excited that it has that potential.

ZACK GUZMAN: I suppose with a piece of this, too, you know, you've got to talk about fees, this one going to have a 0.85% fee, which would be under what ProShares offers. Of course, as you're talking about there, a little bit different in terms of an apples to apples comparison. VanEck's might be a little bit lower than that. They're at 2.65%. I mean, when you're kind of looking at which kind of ETF investors might access, I mean, obviously, it's not just fees, but what are you expecting to see in terms of inflows? We already saw ProShares really set a high watermark here. Who do you think is going to be leaning into this one?

TAD PARK: Yeah, I think that retail investors and institutional investors would be very interested in this. So we're hopeful. And we think that we're also very different. So if we were launching just another ETF that was exactly like everybody else, that would be one thing. But we're different because we're the first ones to actually consult plan B stock-to-flow model to actually think that Bitcoin's price is going to go up and then use options on that. So this is for people who are really bullish on Bitcoin.

So, usually, in an ETF, the ETF provider has no opinion on whether the Bitcoin will go up or down. And it's up to the person to buy and sell the ETF. But ours is, we're actually taking a stand. And we're saying, hey, we're bullish on Bitcoin. If Bitcoin goes up, we want this ETF to do well. And if Bitcoin does not go up then because we have options, we will lose that premium.

So we want to cater to people who are really bullish on Bitcoin. We believe that Bitcoin is not just a coin. We think that it's a revolution. And that's why we really want to represent that Bitcoin industry revolution, have a lot of these miners, have companies like Tesla, MicroStrategy, Square, a lot of these companies that are helping bring the movement forward, not just have a minor role in Bitcoin in our society.

ZACK GUZMAN: Yeah, I mean, I guess, you know, there's that to the upside. And a lot of this comes down to timing. Of course, as you mentioned, some volatility could hit the downside as well. That's just something that investors need to be prepared for, I suppose, any time you're dealing with investment decisions. But also I guess, you know, we got here, and I was thinking about this today, too. You know the phrase, don't hate the player, hate the game?

We've got here with all of these kind of differentiating pieces of ETFs and kind of needing to be fancy about adding this exposure because the SEC doesn't want a spot Bitcoin ETF. But I suppose, you know, I mean, how do you look at maybe that piece of this in terms of whether or not we'll get a Bitcoin spot ETF or kind of the games that need to be played to help investors access the Bitcoin opportunity?

TAD PARK: Yeah, that's true. I'm sure that no one is saying that they wouldn't want to have a spot ETF. If they could, all of these providers would have used a spot ETF, including ourselves. But I think that it's exciting because the regulators are opening up. They approved our ETF initially earlier this month on October 1st. And now they did ProShares right after that. And now they're continuing to approve these ETFs.

So the future looks bright. I think that eventually, a spot ETF will go on the market. We want to be launched before then because I think it's going to be very bullish for Bitcoin's price once a spot ETF is on the market. So we're hoping that we can provide that initial exposure before that happens. But we're really excited about possibly a spot ETF next year.

ZACK GUZMAN: Yeah, we'll see if that happens. But at the very least for now, another option there on the table for investors looking to maybe access some Bitcoin exposure here. Appreciate you coming on here to chat with us, the CEO of Volt Equity, Tad Park. Thanks again for the time, and congrats on the debut.