Dogecoin Premiers in Latest Wave of New Crypto ETFs

The ETF started trading on 18 Sept on the Chicago-based Cboe with significant volumes of inflows. Its underlying Dogecoin slipped 1.4% on the same day, heading towards a week of little net change in price. It climbed 22 percent the prior week on speculation about the imminent product launch.

Dogecoin, which emerged in 2013, is a meme coin inspired by a series of internet jokes based on the deliberate misspelling of the word “dog.” It began its life largely as a farce. The formal listing of a tracker investment product on a major US exchange, announced on 18 Sept in a press release by the provider, serves as a testament to the maturing of cryptocurrencies over the past decade. 

Trading under DOJE

The ETF trades under the ticker DOJE and invests through a Cayman-based subsidiary, holding foreign exchange-traded products that track Dogecoin, rather than owning the tokens directly. 

A companion product, the REX-Osprey XRP ETF (XRPR) that tracks Ripple’s XRP token, also debuted this week. The two funds together generating $54.7 million in opening-day activity, according to Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas.

ETF boom 

These developments follow the July debut of REX-Osprey’s Solana + Staking ETF, which has grown to more than $275 million in assets. 

Its arrival this week also coincides with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approving Grayscale’s Digital Large Cap Fund, the first multi-asset cryptocurrency exchange traded product. That product holds Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Solana and Cardano, with assets exceeding $915 million. 

In an announcement this week the SEC revised rulemaking that will streamline listing standards for cryptocurrency-based exchange-traded products as part of a push to streamline reviews across US marketplaces. 

The shift could unlock dozens of additional crypto ETFs over the next year as the decision will cut time and effort needed to list these types of products.