Brazil-based Hashdex Expects to Launch First DeFi ETF Next Month

Latin America’s largest crypto asset manager to expand its lineup of offerings after offering first crypto ETF in 2021

article-image

Source: twitter.com/hashdex

share

key takeaways

  • The ETF will “mirror” the CF Benchmarks’ DeFi Composite Index, which comprises decentralized applications, service protocols and the Ethereum network
  • Hashdex launched the world’s first crypto ETF, the Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index ETF, in February 2021

Crypto asset manager Hashdex has gained approval to launch the world’s first decentralized finance (DeFi) ETF, the company announced on Wednesday. 

The fund is expected to be listed on the Brazilian stock exchange, B3, on Feb. 17.

“We are confident that DeFi, through its innovative and disruptive technology, will exponentially grow and play a vital role in the financial sector of the future,” Hashdex CEO Marcelo Sampaio said in a statement. “By offering the first DeFi ETF in the world, we are providing our global investors with the ability to play a part in the next evolution of the crypto ecosystem.”

The ETF will “mirror” the CF Benchmarks’ DeFi Composite Index, the firm revealed. CF Benchmarks CEO Sui Chung noted that it will be the first DeFi index to be tracked by an ETF.

The index comprises 12 assets, including decentralized applications Uniswap, Aave, Compound, Maker, Yearn, Curve, Synthetix and Amp. It also invests in service protocols Chainlink, The Graph and Polygon, as well as the Ethereum network.

Similar index products exist within DeFi, with the largest by market capitalization being the DeFi Pulse Index (DPI), which includes Uniswap, Aave and Maker as its top 3 holdings. DPI launched in September 2020 and has a market cap of $126 million. But the index product is primarily available on decentralized exchanges, like Uniswap.

Hashdex launched the world’s first crypto index ETF, the Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index ETF, in February 2021. The fund trades on the Bermuda Stock Exchange (BSX) and is for accredited non-US investors.

The firm also holds an exclusive partnership with Victory Capital, an asset manager with $162 billion in assets under management, as of Oct. 31, to bring crypto products to the US. The first product, the Victory Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index Fund, is a private fund available to accredited investors.

QR Asset Management, also headquartered in Brazil, launched the first bitcoin ETF in Latin America last June and quickly plotted other crypto ETF launches. While ETFs that invest directly in cryptoassets also trade in Canada and parts of Europe, US regulators have not yet approved such products. 

​​“I don’t think launches in Latin America are going to have any impact on the SEC’s decision-making process,” Dave Nadig, CIO and director of research for ETF Trends and ETF Database, previously told Bockworks. “If the [European Union] and Canada aren’t enough pressure, I don’t think pressure matters, to be honest.”


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

recent research

Research Report Templates.png

Research

Ethena Labs is leaping from its flagship synthetic dollar, USDe, to a full product suite—USDtb, iUSDe, and the Arbitrum-based Converge Chain—designed to marry crypto-native yields with TradFi-grade compliance. Our analysis shows how expanding into CME, ETF options, and tokenized Treasuries could lift protocol revenue from sub-$500 million in a bear case to several billion dollars if favorable regulation and institutional adoption align.

article-image

The L1’s Interwoven Stack is the most opinionated tech stack yet

article-image

Bitcoin is still rising, 11 years after the documentary film The Rise and Rise of Bitcoin

article-image

Arch Labs CEO told Blockworks that the team plans to launch a native token, but declined to give details

article-image

CEO Mike Silagadze tells Blockworks that the US is “open for business” and why its DeFi bank offering is the first of many

article-image

Doing one thing well and leaving everything else out is often what disruptive technologies do best