Hashdex to close U.S. spot BTC ETF as inflows concentrate, investors chase AI returns

Crypto asset manager Hashdex is set to close and liquidate its $14.7 million spot bitcoin BTC$64,056.34 exchange-traded fund, in what may be the first liquidation of a U.S. spot bitcoin offering.

Bitcoin futures ETFs have closed before, including VanEck’s XBTF in 2024, but no U.S. fund holding bitcoin directly appears to have previously been liquidated.

Hashdex cited an evaluation of the fund’s assets under management, liquidity, operating costs, investor interest and its place within the company’s broader product lineup when announcing the closure.

Flows into the ETFs, which were first approved in January 2024, have dwindled as investors chased the better returns offered by AI-related investments. Taken as a group, the funds have seen net outflows in each of the past three months, according to data from SoSoValue.

“Much of the market views the opportunity cost of holding BTC as too high while anything AI-related soars,” K33 Research head Vetle Lunde wrote in a June report.

BlackRock’s iShares Future AI & Tech ETF gained 39% through July and held $3.6 billion in assets while the crypto market fell roughly 36%, based on the CoinDesk 20 (CD20) Index.

The Hashdex Bitcoin ETF (DEFI) is the smallest of the U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs by net assets and recorded the lowest cumulative net inflows, according to SoSoValue data. The second-smallest, WisdomTree’s BTCW, has $142.4 million in net assets. Market leader BlackRock’s IBIT holds $47.08 billion in net assets.