Episode summary
New ETFs to Watch: A Nasdaq 100 Challenger, the SK Hynix Smackdown and...a Multi-Token Widcard? |...
Trillions
· · Hosts: Eric Balchunas, Joel Weber · Guests: Isabelle Lee
Summary
The episode focuses on four recent ETF launches that show how crowded and competitive the market has become. The hosts argue that the biggest near-term story is the new Nasdaq-100 challengers from BlackRock and State Street, which are priced below Invesco’s QQQ and QQQM and may try to win assets with lower fees and broader distribution. They expect the real test is whether those giants can pull meaningful volume away from the long-dominant Invesco products.
A second theme is the rush into leveraged single-stock and thematic products. The hosts highlight the U.S.-listed 2x SK Hynix ETFs, with GraniteShares’ SKU emerging as the early volume leader after the company gained a U.S. listing. They also discuss 2x micro-strategy-style funds as a reminder that, for some traders, volatility is the point.
The wild-card launch is T. Rowe Price’s TKNZ, described as the first active spot crypto ETF and first active multi-token ETF, with 41% in Bitcoin and the rest spread across Ethereum, Solana, Binance and Hyperliquid. The “good luck with that” pick is Y’all Street Physical Gold ETF, which pitches American-soil storage but faces a tougher fee and liquidity setup than established gold funds.
Key takeaways
- BlackRock and State Street are taking aim at Invesco’s QQQ franchise with cheaper Nasdaq-100 ETFs, but the hosts think the fight is mostly a fee and distribution game.
- The hosts expect the new Nasdaq-100 entrants could gather billions over a couple of years, but they doubt either one will surpass the combined scale of QQQ and QQQM.
- GraniteShares’ SKU led the early U.S. 2x SK Hynix ETF race, showing that newer indie issuers can win launch-day liquidity battles.
- T. Rowe Price’s TKNZ is positioned as the first active spot crypto ETF and first active multi-token ETF, with 41% in Bitcoin and the rest in several other tokens.
- The hosts are skeptical of Y’all Street Physical Gold ETF because its American-soil pitch comes with a 24 bp fee and a crowded gold ETF market.
Notable quotes
“the competition for the NASDAQ 100. Basically, there's two new in NASDAQ 100 ETFs. One from Eyesshares and one from State Street”
“This is like Eyesshares and State Street old school terodome smackdown about to happen and so this is going to be interesting to watch”
“The ticker is SKU. Why Granite Shares over like some of these other ones like Tuttle or ProShares or”
“This is the first active spot crypto ETF. And it's from Tro”
“It holds the gold on American soil because a lot of the other gold ETFs hold it in New York and Toronto and London and ones even in Switzerland”
How the episode opens
Bloomberg Audio Studios podcasts radio news. — Look, this is a fascinating situation. They come along and they're like, "We're going to do active crypto before anybody. This is the first active — Spot crypto ETF. The best metaphor I can come up with is this is like John McEnroe playing pickle ball." You know, this is a
I don't follow. — Okay. I — Can you be Gen Z? Welcome to Trillions. I'm Joel Weber. — And I'm Eric Valunis.
Eric, there are so many new ETFs always. This year may set a record. When we're recording in July already there's been 139 launches this month alone.
How is anybody supposed to keep track? And that's what we're here for. This episode is one of our regular franchises and it's already a fan favorite.
New ETFs to watch. Joining us is Isabelle Lee, Crosset reporter with Bloomberg News. We have three categories to discuss today.
big new launches, wild cards, and good luck with that. Along the way, we'll discuss roller coasters, yucking someone's yum, American soil, and we'll have a few detours as we attempt to educate Isabelle about music and tennis. Eric, what's the big launch to watch?
All right. Well, kind of have a two parts to this answer. The first one is the competition for the NASDAQ 100.
Basically, there's two new in NASDAQ 100 ETFs. One from Eyesshares and one from State Street. One of them is 12 and the other one is 10 basically.
Yeah. Although the Eyesshares is going to lower to 10. That's important because they're both cheaper than the current one which is the Q's
And QQQM which is 15 and 18 respectively. So here's the deal. Invesco has had somewhat of a monopoly on this index.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- etf launches
- nasdaq 100 competition
- 2x leveraged semiconductor etfs
- active crypto-related etfs
- gold etf storage claims
Companies and tickers mentioned
- IVZ
- BLK
- STT
- TROW
- Invesco
- BlackRock
- State Street
- T. Rowe Price
- SK Hynix
Watch the episode
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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