Hashdex is closing its $14.3 million spot bitcoin ETF after Aug. 17, in what looks like the first liquidation of a U.S. fund holding bitcoin directly.
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Posted August 5, 2026 at 5:58 am EST.
Hashdex Asset Management will close and liquidate the Hashdex Bitcoin ETF, which trades on NYSE Arca under the ticker DEFI, the sponsor said in a Monday announcement. It is the first U.S. spot bitcoin ETF to be wound down since the category launched in January 2024.
The fund most recently held about $14.5 million, according to SoSoValue. Shareholders can sell on the exchange through the close of business on August 17, after which the fund stops accepting creation orders from authorized participants and delists. Anyone still holding receives a cash liquidating distribution expected on or about August 28, set at net asset value and reflecting closing costs plus any move in bitcoin while the fund sells its holdings. Hashdex cited assets under management, trading liquidity, operating costs, investor interest, and the fund’s fit within its index-based product range.
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Hashdex launched DEFI as a bitcoin futures product in September 2022 and converted it to spot in late March 2024, nearly three months after IBIT began trading, and its 0.25% expense ratio at the time matched what BlackRock and Fidelity charged. WisdomTree’s BTCW, the next-smallest fund, holds $143 million; IBIT holds $47.65 billion and has taken $60.5 billion of lifetime inflows. Hashdex is not leaving the U.S. market and still manages more than $200 million across remaining products, including the Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index US ETF.
VanEck shut a bitcoin futures ETF in 2024, and Cosmos Asset Management delisted Australian bitcoin and ether ETFs in November 2022 after they gathered about 1.1 million Australian dollars 1between them.
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AI-assisted content: This article was produced with the assistance of AI tools and was reviewed, edited, and fact-checked by a member of the Unchained editorial team before publication.
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