Buffett Bet 2.0: Asset Manager Wagers Crypto Fund Will Beat S&P 500

Cryptocurrency asset manager Morgan Creek Digital is betting $1 million that its crypto fund will outperform the S&P 500, calling the challenge Buffett Bet 2.0 to mimic the billionaire investor’s famous bet. The wager is expected to be taken by “someone who is bullish on the S&P 500, or someone who thinks cryptocurrencies are worthless or overvalued.”

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Recreating Buffett’s Wager

Morgan Creek Digital is recreating Warren Buffett’s famous $1 million wager. However, “unlike the famous value-investor, Morgan Creek is betting against the S&P and placing its faith in the 10-year performance of cryptocurrencies,” Cnbc reported on Thursday.

Anthony Pompliano, Morgan Creek Digital’s co-founder and partner, was quoted as saying:

Whoever takes the other side will likely be someone with the same outlook as Buffett. It’ll be either someone who is bullish on the S&P 500, or someone who thinks cryptocurrencies are worthless or overvalued.

Buffett took a $1 million bet using his own money against asset manager Protégé Partners in 2007. He wagered that a passive investment in the S&P 500 would outperform a sample of five actively managed hedge funds picked by Protégé Partners. “Buffett won that bet in 2017, with the S&P returning about 7 percent compounded annually versus a 2.2 percent from the hedge funds,” the publication wrote.

Calling the challenge “Buffett Bet 2.0,” Morgan Creek Digital is inviting anyone who believes that the S&P 500 will outperform its index fund over a decade to take the other side of the bet, the news outlet detailed. The company’s $1 million will be funded by its partners. Pompliano said the intention is for the winner to donate the proceeds to charity.

Crypto Fund vs. S&P 500

Morgan Creek is betting that its Digital Asset Index Fund will outperform the S&P 500 over a 10-year period starting Jan. 1, Cnbc described. The fund, available to accredited U.S.-based investors, requires a minimum investment of $50,000, carries a management fee of 2 percent, and can be redeemed monthly with 15 days’ notice. Its custodian is Kingdom Trust.

Pompliano explained that this index fund was structured to give similar exposure to the S&P 500, but with cryptocurrencies. It was launched in partnership with Bitwise Asset Management. Bitwise also manages three other crypto funds, two of which were launched on Wednesday.

The Digital Asset Index Fund tracks the Morgan Creek Bitwise Digital Asset Index. Its 10 constituents as of Aug. 27 are BTC (77.5%), ETH (11.1%), BCH (2.4%), LTC (2.3%), EOS (2.2%), ZEC (1.0%), XMR (1.0%), DASH (0.9%), IOTA (0.7%), and NEM (0.7%).

Pompliano was further quoted by Bloomberg as saying:

Bitcoin and crypto assets have been the best-performing asset for the last 10 years … They have beat the S&P 500, and we believe they will continue to do so for the next 10 years.

What do you think of Morgan Creek Digital’s bet? Do you think crypto will outperform the S&P 500? Let us know in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Morgan Creek Digital.

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