Hashdex to wind down $14.7M bitcoin ETF as flows shift to AI assets
Hashdex will liquidate its DEFI spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund, marking what appears to be the first closure of a U.S. ETF holding bitcoin directly. The fund will cease trading on August 17, 2026, with remaining bitcoin holdings sold and cash distributed to shareholders.
DEFI, which held $14.7 million in net assets under management, entered the spot bitcoin ETF market in late March 2024, nearly three months after BlackRock launched IBIT. The closure underscores competitive pressure in the sector as larger funds dominate and investor capital migrates toward higher-returning assets.
Hashdex cited evaluation of fund assets, liquidity, operating costs, investor interest, and the fund’s place in its product lineup when announcing the decision. The firm continues to manage more than $200 million across remaining U.S.-available products, including its Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index US ETF.
Spot bitcoin ETF market consolidation accelerates
The U.S. spot bitcoin ETF market, which reached $77.6 billion in total net assets, has seen cumulative inflows of $51.5 billion since January 2024. Yet DEFI had the lowest cumulative net inflows among all U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs and faced headwinds as investor appetite shifted.
BlackRock’s IBIT dominates with $47.08 billion in assets and $60.5 billion in cumulative net inflows. Fidelity’s FBTC attracted $9.95 billion in net inflows. By contrast, Grayscale’s GBTC experienced $27.47 billion in net outflows.
Spot bitcoin ETF flows have dwindled over the past three months, with the group posting net outflows in each of those periods. Vetle Lunde, head of K33 Research, attributed the shift to competing investment priorities: “Much of the market views the opportunity cost of holding BTC as too high while anything AI-related soars.”
BlackRock’s iShares Future AI and Tech ETF, which holds $3.6 billion in assets, gained 39 percent through July 2026. Over the same period, the broader crypto market declined 36 percent based on the CoinDesk 20 Index.
Precedent outside the United States
While no U.S. fund holding bitcoin directly had previously been liquidated, spot crypto ETF closures have occurred internationally. Cosmos Asset Management closed its Australian bitcoin and ether ETFs in November 2022, six months after launch, when the funds held approximately $710,000 in combined assets. Bitcoin futures ETFs have also closed in the U.S., including VanEck’s XBTF in 2024.
DEFI carried a 0.25 percent expense ratio. Hashdex did not specify the exact mechanics of how remaining bitcoin holdings will be liquidated or the timeline for distributing cash proceeds to shareholders beyond the August 17 final trading date.
