The Fund Structure That Could Replace the ETF

Juan Leon, Senior Investment Strategist at Bitwise Asset Management, returns to the show to share how much the convergence of traditional finance and on-chain infrastructure has accelerated since our last conversation—and what the data behind that shift actually shows. He breaks down why vaults represent the next evolution in fund wrappers beyond ETFs; what distinguishes sustainable on-chain yield from the opacity that drove past cycle failures; and where AI agents fit into the future of institutional asset management on blockchain rails.

Key Takeaways

• Why vaults are emerging as the next evolution in fund structures and how they compare to ETFs

• What separates sustainable on-chain yield from the products that failed in previous cycles

• How AI agents and blockchains are symbiotic, and what guardrails need to exist before institutions delegate real financial decisions to these agent/blockchain pairings

• Why the distribution opportunity in tokenization is being underestimated
  
  

Guest Bio:
Juan Leon is the Senior Investment Strategist at Bitwise Asset Management, where he helps lead research, product and strategy development, and fund and index management, and also supports sales and client relationships. Prior to Bitwise, he was a Portfolio Manager at U.S. Global Investors, managing equity and fixed-income funds, and designing quantitative investment strategies. Before that, Juan was a Financial Analyst at Rackspace Technology where he contributed to financial planning and analysis. He is a graduate of Trinity University, double majoring in Political Science and Economics. Juan also earned the Chartered Financial Analyst designation from the CFA Institute.

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About this Show:

The Brave Technologist is here to shed light on the opportunities and challenges of emerging tech. To make it digestible, less scary, and more approachable for all!

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Music by: Ari Dvorin

Produced by: Sam Laliberte