REUTERS/Stephen Lam
- Simplify Asset Management has applied for an ETF focused on Web3.
- The fund would trade under the ticker “WIII,” a regulatory filing showed.
- The ETF would invest up to 10% of its funds in Grayscale Bitcoin Trust.
- Sign up here for our daily newsletter, 10 Things Before the Opening Bell.
A new exchange-traded fund focused on the future of the internet is coming.
According to a Wednesday filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, New York-based Simplify Asset Management has applied to create the Simplify Volt Web3 ETF, which would trade under the ticker “WIII.”
The prospectus said the fund will invest in companies focused on or related to “innovation in the operation of the internet, which is referred to as the ‘Web3’ internet and may include metaverse companies.”
Web3 has been dubbed the next era of the internet following Web 2.0. Like cryptocurrencies, it will rely on the blockchain instead of tech giants like Amazon Web Services.
The fund will not invest directly in cryptocurrencies or their derivatives or even initial token offerings. It will, however, invest up to 10% of its assets in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, an investment vehicle that tracks the price of bitcoin, the filing said.
The new ETF is hitting the market amid increasing hype over cryptocurrencies and blockchain, collectible tokens called NFTs, and the metaverse.
Though it’s the first fund to focus directly on Web3, other funds before it have focused on the parallel concept of the metaverse, a digital world where people can socialize, game, shop, and more. The Roundhill Ball Metaverse ETF began trading in June last year and has since ballooned to nearly $1 billion in assets under management, Bloomberg reported previously. ProShares has applied for its own version of a metaverse ETF.
Last month, Defiance ETFs launched a novel fund focused on in companies with exposure to the NFT market and blockchain and cryptocurrency ecosystems. It trades under the ticker NFTZ, Insider reported.
