With the US bitcoin spot ETF trading and ETH funds soon to follow, Brazilian asset manager Hashdex looks to launch a fund that would hold both assets.
The approval of such a fund in the United States would mark another milestone in a year with some crypto fund firsts already.
The first spot bitcoin ETFs in the United States received the Securities and Exchange Commission’s long-awaited blessing in January. The launch of the Spot Ether ETF is imminent as the agency is currently working with fund issuers to finalize registration statements for planned funds.
While the proposed US Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index ETF would invest in BTC and ETH, a document indicates that it clarifies that it would not invest in “crypto stocks, tokenized assets, or stablecoins.”
Crypto assets that meet certain criteria may be added to the index, such as being listed on a US-regulated platform or serving as an underlying asset for a derivative instrument listed on such a venue.
If so, Hashdex intends to modify the fund’s strategy “to only use bitcoin and ether in the same proportions as determined by the index, and determine whether a submission to the commission under Rule 19b-4 of the Act will be required.”
The index that the planned fund would track had a weighting of approximately 70% for BTC and 30% for ETH as of May 27.
“The sponsor will employ a passive investment strategy intended to monitor changes in the index regardless of whether the index goes up or down, meaning the sponsor will not attempt to ‘beat’ the index,” the document states.
Monday’s proposal was presented by Nasdaq, the exchange on which the product would be traded. It appears that Hashdex has not yet filed a registration statement, or S-1, for the planned ETF.
A spokesperson for Hashdex declined to comment further on the document.
Hashdex has been looking to pivot its bitcoin futures ETF into one that also holds BTC directly ahead of the launch of spot BTC funds in the US in January. It was unable to do so when its rivals launched spot products on Jan. 11, only gaining that capability later.
The asset manager is not currently looking to offer a US ETF that would only invest in ether.
