BlackRock (BLK) is launching an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that will focus on IT companies that are exposed to the metaverse. It’s not the first time a major company has been named in the metaverse news.
iShares Future Metaverse Tech and Communications ETF (IVRS), according to its website, will invest in companies that are likely to contribute to the metaverse in virtual platforms, social media, gaming, 3D software, digital assets, virtual and augmented reality, and digital assets. The top five holdings are Meta Platforms, Apple, Nvidia, Netease, and Roblox (RBLX).
Decentralization – In recent years, the Sandbox, which is a group of independent platforms that build the metaverse, has become the market leader. “Snow Crash,” a science fiction book by Neal Stephenson that came out in 1992, helped spread the idea.
A KPMG survey found that people had different ideas about how to build the metaverse. About 90% of investors think the metaverse is the next step for the internet, but many investors are skeptical because of legal, privacy, and adoption concerns.
During the bull run, Microsoft (MSFT) and Meta put money into online social spaces, but they have slowed down during the crypto winter.
Four months after it was founded, Microsoft stopped a project called “Metaverse in Industry.” Meta’s business, Facebook Reality Labs (FRL), which worked with augmented and virtual reality, lost $14 billion in 2022.
Considering when it was created, the new ETF may be set up to take advantage of the long-term potential of the technology. At this point, the metaverse is like the internet in the early 1990s or a smartphone in the early 2000s. In a blog post on February 8, Reid Menge, co-portfolio manager of the BlackRock Technology Opportunities Fund, said, “[The metaverse] at this juncture, it is much like the internet of the early 1990s or the smartphone of the early 2000s. We expect it is going to be big, and very likely change people’s daily lives.”
The $5 million ETF is traded on the New York Stock Exchange. It will put its money into stocks instead of cryptocurrencies. The fund’s prospectus says that it will put money into digital asset companies and metaverse payment systems.
BlackRock’s new ETF will compete with Global X Metaverse ETF (VR), Roundhill Ball Metaverse ETF (METV), and Fidelity Metaverse ETF (FMET), all of which lost value last year.
Content Source: coindesk.com
Cover Image Source: latribune.fr
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