The Investment Banking giant, Goldman Sachs, filed an application with the US SEC for a Defi ETF. The ETF would give exposure to the performance of companies, working on blockchain technology and the decentralization of finance.
Goldman Sachs named the ETF Innovate DeFi and Blockchain Equity ETF (the ‘Fund’). It “seeks to provide investment results that closely correspond, before fees and expenses, to the performance of the Solactive Decentralized Finance and Blockchain Index (the ‘Index’),” the filing said.
“The Index is designed to deliver exposure to companies that are aligned with two key themes, the implementation of Blockchain Technology and the Digitalization of Finance (the “Themes”),” per the filing.
The filing states that the fund would at least invest 80% of its assets into companies exclusive of collateral held from securities lending, in securities, depositary receipts, and stocks of companies included in the index.
Goldman’s use of the term “DeFi” relates to the “Digitalization of Finance,” according to the filing. “Defined as the digital transformation of traditional financial services, including the support and delivery of payments, transaction services, lending, and insurance.”
“The eligible universe of stocks is comprised of common equity securities, including depositary receipts, of companies located across developed and emerging markets worldwide, listed and traded on major exchanges in certain developed markets,” states the filing notes. It includes Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Goldman is the first to file for a DeFi-related ETF and hopes to offer exposure to DeFi. Goldman is ramping up its cryptocurrency work in recent months. It also announced plans to offer options and futures trading in Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency.
Goldman is planning to offer an ETF service as soon as the SEC approves the filing. The shares of the fund are expected to be listed for trading on a national securities exchange.
