Hashdex introduces first ’33 Act bitcoin futures ETF | ETF strategy
Crypto investment specialist Hashdex has introduced the first bitcoin futures ETF in the United States registered solely under the Securities Act of 1933.
DEFI is the first US-listed bitcoin futures ETF registered under the Securities Act of 1933.
The Hashdex Bitcoin Futures ETF (DEFI USA) has been listed on NYSE Arca with a cost percentage of 0.94%.
The fund has been developed in collaboration with Teucrium tradea specialist in ’33 Act commodity funds, as well Victory Capital Managementa global asset manager with $160 billion in assets under management.
ETF tracks Hashdex US Bitcoin Futures Fund Index which refers to the average prices of first and second month bitcoin futures contracts traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
DEFI debuted almost a year later ProShares introduced the first US-listed bitcoin futures ETF in October 2021. The ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO US) received a warm welcome from investors, quickly increasing its assets under management to more than $1 billion just days after it began trading. Following the spectacular fall in crypto asset prices in 2022, BITO currently houses around $600 million in assets.
BITO, as well as all subsequent bitcoin futures ETFs before DEFI, have been structured under the Investment Company Act of 1940.
DEFI’s registration under the ’33 Act is significant as it potentially indicates that the US Securities and Exchange Commission has moved one step closer to approving the first directly backed spot bitcoin ETF that is also likely to be approved under the ’33 Act.
Funds structured under the 33 Act also contain different taxation rules compared to their Act 40 counterparts, which creates the potential for some investors to obtain advantageous tax treatments through DEFI.
In addition, ETFs structured under the ’40 Act are required to use an offshore subsidiary to gain exposure to bitcoin futures. This offshore subsidiary can only account for a maximum of 25% of a fund’s assets, meaning that ’40 Act bitcoin futures ETFs are required to use leverage to achieve the desired level of exposure. According to Hashdex, since DEFI is able to invest directly in bitcoin futures, it benefits from improved capital efficiency that will help the fund maintain a value closer to bitcoin.
Commenting on DEFI’s launch, Marcelo Sampaio, co-founder and CEO of Hashdex, said: “The launch of the Hashdex Bitcoin Futures ETF demonstrates Hashdex’s ongoing commitment to providing investors with innovative and regulated products and services that allow them to gain exposure to the digital asset class . This marks a significant milestone for our firm as we continue to introduce additional products and services – both in the US and globally – that help meet the specific needs of all types of individual and institutional investors.”
Bruno Sousa, Head of USA at Hashdex, added: “At Hashdex, we have an unwavering dedication to consistently finding innovative ways to build products that provide investors with opportunities to gain crypto exposure – our latest product, DEFI, does just that by honoring bitcoin as what we believe is the foundation of the decentralized finance revolution. We are thrilled to be joining best-in-class providers, Teucrium and Victory Capital, to introduce this first-of-its-kind investment tool.”
