WisdomTree plans more digital funds for “blockchain-enabled” app
Firm with $94 billion in assets under management said a focus remains on launching a US bitcoin ETF amid “exciting momentum” in that area
rafapress/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks
WisdomTree is set to add a slate of digital funds to its “blockchain-enabled” consumer app by the end of the year, executives said Friday.
The company, which managed roughly $94 billion in assets as of Sept. 30, continues its bid to cement what WisdomTree CEO Jonathan Steinberg reiterated to be the firm’s “first-mover status” in tokenization.
It launched WisdomTree Prime in July and expanded the app’s reach to residents in 11 additional states earlier this month.
The app offers access to nine digital funds — with share ownership records kept on the Stellar or Ethereum blockchains — as well as dollar and gold tokens, bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH).
Steinberg said during the company’s earnings Friday that the firm plans to add a money market fund to WisdomTree Prime. It also plans to offer three WisdomTree Siegel-branded digital funds “where customers can deploy a model-like experience with just one click.”
Read more: WisdomTree extends reach of Prime app, plots new features
Jeremy Siegel, a finance professor at the University of Pennsylvania, partnered with WisdomTree in 2020 to offer the Siegel-WisdomTree Longevity and Siegel-WisdomTree Global Equity model portfolios.
Funds employing those two strategies, as well as a WisdomTree Siegel Moderate Digital Fund, will be added to WisdomTree Prime this quarter, a spokesperson told Blockworks.
The firm has said it intends to add additional features, such as debit card connectivity and peer-to-peer functionality, in the coming quarters.
“Every additional state added, or feature enhancement or product launched has generated interest in what WisdomTree is doing from larger players in the financial and technology industries,” Steinberg said.
Read more: WisdomTree to leave ‘no stone unturned’ with new blockchain-native app: CEO
In addition to its tokenization efforts, WisdomTree is one of about a dozen fund issuers with a spot bitcoin ETF proposal in front of the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The agency has never permitted such a product to come to market in the US.
“It does seem like there’s been some exciting momentum, [and] we remain very focused on a spot bitcoin ETF,” Will Peck, WisdomTree’s head of digital assets, said on the Friday call. “We think it’s the best execution for the asset class in the traditional channels in the US and we’re looking forward to continue engaging with regulators on it.”
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