Our guest on the podcast today is Matt Hougan, one of the world’s leading experts on crypto, exchange-traded funds, and financial technology. He’s the chief investment officer for Bitwise Asset Management, which offers several cryptocurrency-related funds and ETFs. He was previously chief executive officer of ETF.com and Inside ETFs. Hougan is co-author of A Comprehensive Guide to Exchange-Traded Funds and “Cryptoassets: The Guide to Bitcoin, Blockchain, and Cryptocurrency for Investment Professionals” for the CFA Institute’s Research Foundation. He graduated from Bowdoin College with a BA in philosophy.

Background

Bio

A Comprehensive Guide to Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs), by Matt Hougan

“Cryptoassets: The Guide to Bitcoin, Blockchain, and Cryptocurrency for Investment Professionals,” by Matt Hougan and David Lawant, CFA Research Foundation Briefs, January 2021.

The Beginning of Cryptocurrency

“The Bitcoin White Paper Is Now Officially 15 Years Old,” by Pete Rizzo, Forbes.com, Oct. 31, 2023.

“Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System,” by Satoshi Nakamoto

Crypto Scandals

“What Was the Silk Road Online? History and Closure by the FBI,” by the Investopedia Team, Investopedia.com, June 29, 2024.

“What Was Mt. Gox? Definition, History, Collapse, and Future,” by the Investopedia Team, Investopedia.com, April 23, 2024.

“FTX Crash Is Eerily Similar to the Bernie Madoff Scandal, ex-regulator Sheila Blair Says,” by Matt Egan, cnn.com, Nov. 15, 2022.

Crypto Performance

“Crypto Market Review (Q2 2024),” by Matt Hougan, Juan Leon, Ryan Rasmussen, Alyssa Choo, Gayatri Choudhury, and Mallika Kolar, bitwiseinvestments.com, July 9, 2024.

“Ether ETF Is One Step Away From Approval as Price of Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB, XRP, Solana, Cardano, Shiba Inu, and Dogecoin Turn Mixed,” by Dan Runkevicius, forbes.com, June 26, 2024.

“What Financial Advisors Don’t Know About Bitcoin ETFs,” Big Picture in Practice podcast, Morningstar.com, June 6, 2024.

“BlackRock’s $20 Billion ETF Is Now the World’s Largest Bitcoin Fund,” by Katie Greifeld and Sidhartha Shukla, Bloomberg.com, May 29, 2024.

“Bitcoin’s Role in a Traditional Portfolio,” by Matt Hougan and Gayatri Choudhury, bitwiseinvestments.com, Aug. 28, 2023.

“The 60/30/10 Portfolio: How to Build a Diversified Crypto Sleeve,” by Matt Hougan, bitwiseinvestments.com, July 22, 2024.

“Five Things to Expect by the Next Halving in 2028,” by Matt Hougan, bitwiseinvestments.com, April 23, 2024.

“The Crypto Market Sell-Off: What Happened and Where We Go From Here,” by Matt Hougan, bitwiseinvestments.com, Aug. 5, 2024.

“Ethereum ETPs and the Path to a New All-Time High,” by Matt Hougan, bitwiseinvestments.com, July 15, 2024.

Other

“Bitcoin Price Surges Above $30,500; But Warren Buffett Still Thinks It’s a Gamble,” by Harrison Miller, investors.com, April 13, 2023.

“SEC Approves Spot Ether ETFs,” by Kyle Torpey, Investopedia.com, July 23, 2024.

“What Is Tokenization?” by Matt Hougan, bitwiseinvestments.com, April 17, 2025.

Solana

CoinMarketCap