Application for a Web 3.0 ETF filed with the U.S. SEC, ticker to be “WIII”
Investment advisory firm, Simplify Asset Management, has filed an application with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch the Simplify Volt Web3 ETF, an exchange-traded fund (ETF) focused on Web 3.0 which will have the ticker “WIII”.
The fund wouldn’t directly invest in cryptocurrencies, but would allocate 10 per cent of the portfolio to invest in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, an investment product that has exposure to Bitcoin through a private trust. The fund would also use an options strategy to attempt to hedge against price fluctuations, and carries a management fee of 0.95 per cent.
If listed, the ETF would trade on the New York Stock Exchange.
Issuers of ETFs seem excited by the possibilities of crypto-based funds, in November 2021 the BetaShares Crypto Innovators ETF broke an ASX (Australian Securities Exchange) record for trading volume for a new fund listing.
The ETF broke the record within 15 minutes of its ASX debut, receiving AUD$8 million worth of trades within that time, and closed its first day with over AUD$39 million, almost five times as much as any previous ASX-listed ETF in its first day of trading.
Other ETFs for the crypto space have also recently debuted, such as Defiance ETFs “NFTZ” in December, an ETF following NFT companies, and Roundhill Ball Metaverse ETF, offering investors exposure to the Metaverse. Similarly, in December, ProShares filed an application with the SEC for a “Metaverse Theme ETF”.
