Regulated Brazilian fund manager Hashdex has reportedly partnered with Nasdaq to launch the world’s first cryptocurrency exchange-traded fund (ETF) on the Bermuda Stock Exchange (BSX).
According to a report published by local news outlet Infomoney, Hashdex has already obtained approval to launch the ETF, dubbed the Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index ETF. The ETF was developed in a partnership with Nasdaq, and is set to be listed on the BSX to take advantage of the region’s pro-crypto regulations. The BSX has confirmed it will be listing the Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index ETF.
An exchange-traded fund (ETF) is a security that involves a collection of other securities tracks and often tracks an underlying index, and while not a lot of details on the crypto ETF have been release, it’s said to track a crypto index developed by Nasdaq and Hashdex to “represent an institutional investment scenario in cryptocurrencies,” Infomoney writes.
The ETF’s methodology and other information related to the product are set to be released by Nasdaq at launch, according to Hashdex. Marcelo Sampaio, CEO of the Brazilian fund manager, said that Nasdaq being a part of the project confirms cryptoassets are earning investors’ interest and confidence. Sampaio added (roughly translated):
This process is also expected to accelerate the entry of institutional investors in this segment. It is a trend that is increasingly becoming concrete.
Notably, various organizations have tried, in varying ways, to list a Bitcoin ETF on major stock exchanges, but all of these attempts have been rejected by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Earlier this year, in a dissenting statement, Commissioner Hester Peirce – a proponent of cryptocurrency-related products – revealed she disapproved of the rejection, and that it leads her to conclude the agency is “unwilling to approve” the listing of products that would “provide access to the market for Bitcoin.”
Commissioner Hester Peirce added that “no filing will meet the ever-shifting standards that this Commission insists on applying to Bitcoin-related products—and only to Bitcoin-related products.”
Featured image via Unsplash.
