Crypto ETF filers hard at work for the holidays
Two planned products aim to replicate the performance of bitcoin-denominated investments in Nasdaq 100 stocks and gold
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Fund issuers continue to dream up crypto ETFs they hope to launch in 2025.
We recently highlighted Bitwise’s filing for a Bitcoin Standard Corporations ETF to invest in those with at least 1,000 BTC.
Related, Strive Asset Management filed last Thursday for a Bitcoin Bond ETF that would seek exposure to convertible securities issued by MicroStrategy and others expected to use a big portion of proceeds to buy BTC.
REX Advisers then shared plans to launch a Bitcoin Corporate Treasury Convertible Bond ETF that (you guessed it) would invest in convertible bonds issued by companies holding the largest crypto asset.
ProShares also plotted three bitcoin-related funds. A so-called S&P 500 Bitcoin ETF would take a long position in S&P 500 stocks and a short US dollar/long bitcoin position. The latter piece is done via bitcoin futures as a way “to currency hedge the US dollar exposure of the S&P 500 stocks position,” a company filing notes.
Two other planned products similarly aim to replicate the performance of bitcoin-denominated investments in Nasdaq 100 stocks and gold.
Perhaps more interestingly, Volatility Shares filed for an ETF that would invest in solana futures contracts “that trade only on an exchange registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.” These do not yet exist.
The company did not immediately return my request for comment.
Volatility Shares, which offers leveraged BTC and ETH futures ETFs, is also the firm that revived the effort to launch ether futures funds in mid-2023. Though it ditched those plans when many others followed suit by re-filing for similar products, some credited the firm as being crucial to achieving approval of those (and ultimately spot ETH) products.
Several firms — VanEck, 21Shares, Canary Capital, Bitwise and Grayscale — have active filings for spot solana ETFs.
It remains uncertain whether the SEC will deviate from its precedent of requiring a regulated futures market — such as those available for BTC and ETH but not for solana — before approving other spot crypto funds.
One thing’s for sure (as stated on X by Bloomberg Intelligence’s Eric Balchunas): “Damn. ETF issuers don’t sleep (or take the week [between] xmas and new years off).”It’s probably a sign there’s plenty more filings to come in the new year.
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