Investment firm BlackRock has launched an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that mainly aims at tech companies dealing with the metaverse, despite the fact that some institutional investors’ interest in the concept are starting to run dry after its well-received appearance during the recent bull run.
The iShares Future Metaverse Tech and Communications ETF (IVRS)’s website stated that it will invest in businesses that are predicted to have an impact on the metaverse in fields such as digital assets, virtual platforms, VR/AR, social media, gaming, and 3D software. Said businesses include Meta Platforms, Apple, Nvidia, Netease and Roblox.
The concept of metaverse building has gained some traction in recent years. The proof can be seen with independent platforms like The Sandbox and Decentraland gaining sizeable market share.
Nonetheless, a recent survey by the consulting company KPMG found that opinions on metaverse development are still polarized. Even though more than 90% of investors still think the metaverse is the future of the internet, many investors are still wary due to concerns regarding regulation, privacy, and adoption.
That being said, Reid Menge, co-portfolio manager of the BlackRock Technology Opportunities Fund, believes that the metaverse technology is not going away anytime soon. In his blog post, he wrote that the metaverse “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 ETF trades on the New York Stock Exchange and has a net asset value of roughly $5 million. It won’t make any direct cryptocurrency investments; instead, it will concentrate mostly on stocks. Yet, the prospectus for the fund states that it would make investments in businesses that ease the use of payment methods or digital assets in the metaverse.
