The Pomp Podcast
Michael Venuto, Co-Founder of Toroso Investments: Inside the World of ETFs
- ETFs are structured like mutual funds but price intraday (every second instead of once daily), creating tax efficiency and liquidity benefits through creation and redemption mechanics.
- The blockchain ETF (BLOK) launched as an actively managed fund to capture blockchain and crypto-adjacent companies; the SEC initially banned the word "blockchain" from the name due to mania concerns, renaming it the Amplify Transformational Data Sharing ETF.
- ETF industry has grown at 19.6% annualized over 26 years, now representing $4.4 trillion in US assets with average expense ratios of 19 basis points.
- A Bitcoin or crypto ETF would likely attract $1 billion in inflows within months but represents a philosophical contradiction to decentralization; Venuto believes it may not be as transformative as expected since investors already committed to crypto have already bought directly.
- Gatekeeping by large financial institutions stifles ETF innovation by preventing access to new issuers while cloning their ideas under established brands.
- The next generation's comfort with crypto and blockchain (children not questioning its legitimacy) signals genuine adoption potential beyond speculation.