Teucrium Bitcoin Futures ETF Now Carries Hashdex Brand

The first bitcoin futures ETF to gain SEC approval under the Securities Act of 1933 — the regulation under which spot bitcoin ETFs are filed — is apparently seeking to change its name.

The proposed Teucrium Bitcoin Futures Fund, which was first filed last May, was referred to as the Hashdex Bitcoin Futures ETF in a Monday regulatory disclosure.

Hashdex, a Brazil-based asset manager, was not named in the original May 2021 filing. Teucrium Trading remains the sponsor of the fund, the latest document indicates, and the specific role Hashdex will play for this fund is unclear.

A Teucrium spokesperson declined to comment beyond the filing. A representative for Hashdex did not immediately return a request for comment.

Bloomberg Intelligence ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas flagged the name change in a Twitter post, noting that it could signal a partnership similar to one between Ark Invest and 21Shares. 

The two firms filed to launch the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF last year. While 21Shares, the largest issuer of crypto exchange-traded products, is listed as the sponsor of the trust, the regulatory disclosure states that Ark “provides assistance in the marketing of the shares.”

The Ark brand, associated with investments in disruptive innovation, carries weight among many investors in the US despite year-to-date negative returns across its products. The firm has nine ETFs trading in the US with combined assets under management of roughly $20 billion.

This appears to be the first collaboration between Teucrium and Hashdex. Bloomberg Intelligence ETF Analyst James Seyffart said the arrangement seems to benefit both firms.

“Hashdex brings a crypto brand name to the product for Teucrium — so might help them differentiate a little bit,” Seyffart told Blockworks. “Also it allows Hashdex to get a foot in the door of the US ETF ecosystem.”

As for branding, Hashdex has made headlines in recent months for launching decentralized finance (DeFi) and Web3 ETFs on the Brazilian stock exchange B3. The company reports having 250,000 investors in its products globally. 

The SEC’s approval of Teucrium’s bitcoin futures ETF gained attention among industry watchers, as some viewed the agency’s decision as a step toward greenlighting a spot bitcoin ETF. Other ETFs investing in bitcoin futures contracts, which launched last year, were filed under the Investment Company Act of 1940, which has additional investor protections. 

Grayscale Investments CEO Michael Sonnenshein said the Teucrium approval “significantly weakened” the SEC’s argument against a spot bitcoin ETF. Dave Abner, head of business development at crypto custodian Gemini, dubbed the Teucrium approval a “precursor” to regulators allowing such a product.

Other industry executives still believe a spot bitcoin ETF won’t launch until next year, at the earliest.

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