Rex‑Osprey’s DOJE, the first U.S. exchange‑traded fund built to hold Dogecoin, is set to list Thursday, marking a notable widening of crypto products on U.S. markets. Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas flagged the move, calling DOJE ‘the first-ever U.S. ETF to hold something that has no utility on purpose.’
The fund will list using the Investment Company Act of 1940 framework — the same vehicle REX‑Osprey used for its SOL + Staking ETF — rather than the Securities Act of 1933 route commonly used for commodity-style grantor trusts. That distinction matters: as Ganesh Mahidhar of Further Ventures explains, ETFs registered under the 1940 act carry stricter governance and diversification mandates, which can translate into additional investor protections compared with 1933-style products.
Dogecoin’s classification as a meme coin raises questions about which tokens might qualify for similar funds. Mahidhar notes that Dogecoin runs on the same proof-of-work consensus as Bitcoin and therefore has a production floor tied to energy consumption — a feature that differentiates it from proof-of-stake tokens like Shiba Inu or Pepe, which he says may be more vulnerable without clearer utility.
Institutional uptake is expected to be limited at launch. But if a Dogecoin ETF grows meaningful market cap or if DOGE develops more on-chain use cases, it could attract broader attention. For now, what will matter most is price action and volatility — not least because ETFs can amplify flows into a volatile asset class.
For context, more than 90 crypto ETF proposals remain pending at the SEC, including applications for Solana and XRP funds. REX Shares has also filed multiple crypto ETF proposals this year. At the time of writing, DOGE traded around $0.24, up 1.4% on the day and 11.7% on the week, according to CoinGecko.
Risk note: ETF listings do not remove market risk. Potential investors should consider volatility, limited short-term institutional interest, and regulatory uncertainty before allocating capital.
Source: Decrypt. Read the original coverage for full details.
