A metaverse ETF that bet big against Meta is closing down after recording a 30% loss in just 15 months.
Meanwhile, Meta stock is up 96.7% on the year. No wonder Mark Zuckerberg’s personal wealth is rocketing.
Punk is dead
Subversive Capital is liquidating its ‘Subversive Metaverse ETF (PUNK)’ just shy of a year and a half after launch. The company is closing the exchange-traded fund (ETF) due to a 30% loss since its inception. On Tuesday, the company announced that the final day of trading for the ETF would be May 31.
The ETF was introduced in January 2022 with the intent of investing in everything metaverse-related, minus Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta.
Speaking at the time, Michael Auerbach said: “Facebook seems to be the antithesis of what actual consumers want their digital futures to look like. Mark [Zuckerberg] and his team are not the best custodians of our digital futures.”
$PUNK https://t.co/nBYPFrIKo8 pic.twitter.com/jAB2APsML9
— Michael Auerbach 🌻 (@msauerbach) January 27, 2022
An ETF or exchange-traded fund is a curated basket of investments. ETFs are a simple way for investors to bet on the market without investing in individual stocks. Subversive’s ETF invested in Block, Alphabet, Microsoft, Sony, Nvidia, Coinbase Global, Galaxy Digital, and Roblox. It further shorted (bet against) Meta stocks.
It was a bold strategy with a unique marketing proposition, but ultimately, it didn’t pay off for the company. Despite the closure of the PUNK ETF, Subversive Capital remains unrepentant. Tuesday’s press release showed no signs of contrition about its failure.
“In 2022, the world watched as Meta, formerly Facebook, place a big bet, including its name, on the future of the Metaverse. Subversive Capital Advisor launched the Fund with a skeptical view of Meta’s imagining of what that world would look like, and to invest in other companies spearheading innovation in this new space,” said Subversive Capital.
Meta stock is up 96.7% on the year. Subversive Capital now intends to pursue other investment opportunities after closing its metaverse ETF.
What is subversive? What is punk?
In the Tuesday press release, Subversive Capital reaffirmed its belief that Meta is getting it wrong.
Subversive’s portfolio manager, Christian H. Cooper, is assured that Subversive Capital is choosing the right strategies both then and now.
“We continue to believe Meta’s focus is misguided and, we’ve decided to pivot given the rapid advances in more promising technology such as Artificial Intelligence,” said Cooper.
Subversive Capital is not the only corporation taking a greater interest in AI. Meta and Mark Zuckerberg have also taken significantly more interest in AI since at least the start of the year.
In a blog post in March, Mark Zuckerberg stated, “Our single largest investment is in advancing AI and building it into every one of our products.”
Subversive Capital spent 15 months betting against Meta and Mark Zuckerberg’s vision of the metaverse. Now both are pursuing AI.
Although Subversive may not buy into Meta’s vision of AI, it appears that both corporations can at least agree on which particular technology trend is currently in vogue – and ape in with gusto. But it raises the question; what’s subversive about that?
and then