Could Goldman be the first to get a crypto-related ETF approved?

July 27, 2021, 8:39 PM UTC

Goldman Sachs’ asset-management arm filed an application for a decentralized finance and blockchain ETF with the Securities and Exchange Commission Monday.

The application is the investment bank’s latest foray into the cryptocurrency space and comes after Goldman said it planned to offer options and futures trading in Ether. The bank announced internally in May it would create a cryptocurrency trading team.

According to the filing, the fund will invest at least 80% of its assets in securities and stocks which deliver exposure on two key themes: blockchain technology and the digitalization of finance. The ETF would track the Solactive Decentralized Finance and Blockchain Index, according to the filing. Twenty percent of its assets can be invested in securities and other instruments not included in the Solactive index but which the investment adviser believes are correlated, the filing said.

Eligible investments for the fund will include stocks in both developing and developed economies including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States, the filing said.

As cryptocurrency becomes more mainstream, it has garnered increased attention from banks. Last week, JPMorgan gave its wealth-management clients access to cryptocurrency funds, the first major U.S. bank to do so, according to Insider.

The SEC is currently reviewing several Bitcoin ETF applications, including one by 21Shares, with which Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest in involved. The federal regulator has twice delayed a decision on whether to approve the VanEck Bitcoin Trust and has rejected several other applications for cryptocurrency ETFs.

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