In Brief:
- BlackRock’s iShares filed for a new blockchain and tech ETF to the U.S. SEC.
- The fund will track the investment results of the NYSE FactSet Global Blockchain Technologies Index.
- The filing notes that component companies will include crypto mining, crypto trading, and exchanges, etc.
BlackRock’s iShares filed for a new blockchain and tech ETF which would invest in companies involved in the “development, innovation, and utilization of blockchain and crypto technologies.”
According to the firm’s filing to the U.S. SEC, the fund will track the investment results of the NYSE FactSet Global Blockchain Technologies Index.
Concrete information about the index’s components could not be outlined yet but the filing reveals that component companies will include crypto mining, crypto trading, and exchanges, or crypto-mining systems.
If the ETF is launched, it will be the first crypto-adjacent fund in the lineup of the largest ETF issuer.
The filing notes that “The Underlying Index is composed of (i) blockchain technology companies, (ii) cryptocurrency mining, (iii) cryptocurrency trading and exchanges, (iv) crypto-mining systems, and (v) video multimedia semiconductors.”
The number of ETFs tracking crypto-linked equities has risen to 15 in recent years, despite the SEC’s continued refusal to approve a spot Bitcoin ETF. In the first week of January, the SEC released a notice saying that it delayed its decision on considering the approval of the Bitcoin ETF proposal from NYDIG, which would be based on the price of bitcoin held in a trust.
Salim Ramji, the head of BlackRock’s global ETF business, stated in December “As the regulatory environment becomes clearer, and as the underlying liquidity dynamics of that market become more to our satisfaction, some of those dynamics will work in our favor.”
