Hashdex Converts Futures Fund Into Latest US Spot Bitcoin ETF, DEFI

On March 26, Hashdex announced the renaming of the Hashdex Bitcoin Futures ETF to the Hashdex Bitcoin ETF, which will trade under the ticker ‘DEFI.’

The move to convert the futures fund to a spot ETF has been made in partnership with Tidal Investments LLC.

DEFI has completed the conversion of its investment strategy to allow the fund to hold spot Bitcoin and track the Nasdaq Bitcoin Reference Price, it noted.

Crowded ETF Marketplace

Hashdex has now become the eleventh asset manager to launch a spot Bitcoin ETF this year as it enters a crowded marketplace dominated by two behemoths.

BlackRock and Fidelity currently dominate the spot BTC ETF market with $20 billion in assets under management between them.

The new Hashdex product and strategy will invest at least 95% of assets in spot Bitcoin, with up to 5% in CME-traded BTC futures and cash equivalents.

The Hashdex Bitcoin Futures ETF launched on the New York Stock Exchange in 2022 as the world’s first BTC futures ETF as an SEC-registered commodity pool.

“Since our founding in 2018, Hashdex has strongly believed that Bitcoin is a generational opportunity,” said Marcelo Sampaio, co-founder and CEO of Hashdex.

Co-founder of Tidal, Mike Venuto, added, “We look forward to this exciting new chapter as we deliver another innovative investment solution that will further accelerate investor exposure to Bitcoin and increase adoption across the U.S.”

Tidal Financial Group is an ETF tooling and technology company with offices across the United States.

Hashdex has also filed for a spot Ethereum ETF but the SEC has postponed decisions on those. The first final deadline is for the VanEck product on May 23 and Hashdex will get a decision on its application on May 30.

Bitcoin ETF Inflows Increasing

Daily inflows to US spot Bitcoin ETFs are increasing again following five consecutive days of outflows as Bitcoin markets corrected.

There was a minor aggregate inflow of $15.4 million, which reversed the trend, but inflows for March 26 were much larger at $418 million.

Fidelity led the inflow revival with $279 million from around 4,000 BTC, while BlackRock had an inflow of $162 million for its IBIT fund.

Six of the smaller ETFs also saw inflows ranging from $16 million to $73 million for ARKB.

Grayscale outflows totaled $212 million, but it was not enough to offset the inflows from competing funds.