How the New Actively Managed Crypto ETFs Are Valuing Their Assets — Barrons.com

What happened

There are now about 75 actively managed crypto exchange-traded funds, according to Morningstar. The newly launched T. Rowe Price Active Crypto fund uses fundamental analysis for some currencies, with manager Blue Macellari treating Bitcoin like gold and studying blockchains such as Solana and Avalanche for cash flow.

Confirmed

Global impact / market context

Bitcoin produces no cash flow, so valuing it is hard, and most active crypto funds skip traditional analysis. If a major fund instead ties crypto values to supply, demand, inflation and blockchain fees, investor money could shift toward coins with measurable revenue, such as Solana and Avalanche.

Analyst inference

Crypto prices still move largely on trends rather than fundamentals, so a fund blending cash-flow models with trend awareness may face sharp swings in its asset values. That could change how competing funds justify holdings and how investors compare crypto funds against gold-like or cash-generating assets.

Analyst inference

What to watch

1. T. Rowe Price Active Crypto manager Blue Macellari says Bitcoin is treated as a macro asset like gold, analyzed through supply and demand plus the economy's inflationary outlook. Confirmed
2. Watch whether more of the roughly 75 actively managed crypto funds adopt fundamental analysis, which means judging coins by cash flow and blockchain usefulness rather than price trends alone. Proposed
3. Track whether coins with staking fees, where investors lease coins to secure the blockchain and earn transaction fees, attract steadier fund money than Bitcoin, which produces no cash flow. Analyst inference

Affected assets

• AVAX — Avalanche
• SOL — Solana
• BTC — Bitcoin

Evidence

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