WisdomTree expands the thematic area with a Blockchain UCITS ETF

The ETF aims to provide pure access to companies primarily focused on blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies

NEW YORK, Sept. 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — WisdomTree, an exchange-traded fund (“ETF”) and exchange-traded product (“ETP”) sponsor, has announced the launch of the WisdomTree Blockchain UCITS ETF (WBLK). Listed on the London Stock Exchange, Börse Xetra and Borsa Italiana, WBLK seeks to track the price and return performance, before fees and expenses, of the WisdomTree Blockchain UCITS Index (the “Index”) and has a total expense ratio of 0.45%.

Leveraging WisdomTree’s heritage of innovation and self-indexing, the proprietary index is designed to track the performance of companies primarily focused on blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies, and which also meet WisdomTree’s ESG¹ criteria.

The ETF complements WisdomTree’s physically backed lineup of single coin crypto trackers and crypto basket ETPs, providing an additional method for investors looking for exposure to the potential growth of digital assets and blockchain infrastructure.

WBLK represents an evolution of WisdomTree’s digital asset expertise, having launched one of the world’s first physical-backed crypto-asset ETPs in 2019², built out a global digital asset team and partnered with industry leaders across the blockchain and cryptocurrency ecosystem. This expertise is combined with WisdomTree’s knowledge and experience in building multi-award winning thematic ETFs.

Pierre Debru, Head of Quantitative Research & Multi Asset Solutions, Europe, WisdomTree, said: “Due to their high growth potential, investors often view investments in digital assets or blockchain-related assets as a thematic investment. This is a good paradigm to adopt to conceptualize investing in the space. The variety of applications and use cases for blockchain is becoming more apparent and can be seen across entertainment, cloud storage, and gaming, among others. While Bitcoin was the first blockchain to be created and aimed to be a revolutionary payment system, the ecosystem has evolved far and wide beyond the “sphere of payments”. Over the years the idea of ​​blockchain has been extended to support smart contracts and the record keeping of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT). There is growth potential for companies involved in blockchain, even though we are in the early stages of proliferation.”

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Blockchain is the distributed ledger technology that underlies digital assets and is, simply put, a distributed database where information is recorded using digital signatures. Blockchain technology has been called a revolution in development and can be useful where a transparent, immutable and digital overview of information is needed. As such, the range of potential applications for the technology is broad, diverse and far-reaching.

The Internet has changed the world in the last 25 years; similarly, distributed ledger technology could become a part of most aspects of our lives within a couple of decades without us even realizing it. The index therefore aims to capture this future trend by providing pure exposure to a basket of companies supporting current and future blockchain infrastructure, referred to as ‘Blockchain Enablers’, as well as companies offering cryptocurrency and blockchain-related services, or ‘Blockchain Engagers ‘:

• Blockchain enablers are companies that make up the ecosystem, and therefore companies that develop components for the blockchain ecosystem, such as hardware and software infrastructure and cryptocurrency mining.

• Blockchain Engagers are companies that provide blockchain and cryptocurrency services and/or applications (advisory, software, financial services) or use blockchain to improve net income through higher sales or improved efficiency and lower costs (e.g. supply chain industry, food industry and healthcare, among others ).

A weight limit is applied to companies categorized as Enablers, due to WisdomTree’s belief that miner rewards will decrease over time for several reasons such as cryptocurrencies moving to ‘energy efficient models’ such as ‘Proof of Stake’ or due to protocol setups such as e.g. halving. As a result, an overweight exposure is applied to companies that are categorized as Engagers due to their role as key players in the blockchain space.

Alexis Marinof, Head of Europe, WisdomTree, added, “WBLK combines our expertise in self-indexing with our in-depth knowledge of digital assets and blockchain ecosystems, providing investors with pure exposure to this disruptive technology megatrend. The ETF is a natural evolution of our multi-award winning thematic ETF platform and has strong synergies with our ETP -platform for cryptoassets. We believe that blockchain is a transformative technology that has the potential to disrupt industries and enable new business models. The potential uses of the technology are endless, and we expect to see new uses for blockchain emerge over the coming decades .”

WBLK is the eighth ETF in WisdomTree’s $1.1 billion portfolio³ European thematic equity series, and the third launched in 2022 together with WisdomTree Recycling Decarbonisation UCITS ETF (WRCY) and WisdomTree New Economy Real Estate UCITS ETF (WTRE).

WBLK is registered for sale in Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Product information

About WisdomTree

WisdomTree Investments, Inc., through its subsidiaries in the United States and Europe (collectively, “WisdomTree”), is an ETF and ETP sponsor and asset manager headquartered in New York. WisdomTree offers products covering equities, commodities, fixed income, leveraged and inverse, currency, cryptocurrency and alternative strategies. WisdomTree currently has approximately $75.4 billion in assets under management globally.

WisdomTree^® is the marketing name of WisdomTree Investments, Inc. and its subsidiaries worldwide.

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Jeremy Campbell
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¹ ESG refers to environment, social and governance
² WisdomTree Bitcoin (BTCW)
³ Source: WisdomTree as of 31 August 2022