Dogecoin Inches Closer to Wall Street With First Meme Coin ETF

The first exchange-traded fund (ETF) built around a meme coin could hit the market this week, after multiple delays and much ￰0￱ DOGE ETF — formally called the Rex Shares-Osprey Dogecoin ETF (DOJE) — was originally slated to debut last week, alongside a handful of politically themed and crypto-related ￰1￱ included funds tied to Bonk (BONK), XRP, Bitcoin (BTC) and even a Trump-themed ￰2￱ DOJE’s debut never materialized. Now, Bloomberg ETF analysts Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart believe Wednesday is the most likely launch date, though they caution nothing is certain. “It’s more likely than not,” Seyffart said. “That seems like the base case.” Ahead of the introduction of the ETF, DOGE has been among the top performers over the past month, ahead 15% even including a decline of 3.5% over the past 24 ￰3￱ launched, DOJE would mark a milestone as the first ￰4￱ to focus on a meme coin — cryptocurrencies that generally lack utility or a clear economic ￰5￱ include tokens like Dogecoin, Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Bonk, which often surge in popularity thanks to internet culture, celebrity endorsements and speculative ￰6￱ described DOJE’s significance in a post on X: “First-ever US ETF to hold something that has no utility on purpose.” DOJE is not a spot ￰7￱ means it won’t hold DOGE directly.

Instead, the fund will use a Cayman Islands-based subsidiary to gain exposure through futures and other ￰8￱ approach sidesteps the need for physical custody of the coin while still offering traders a way to bet on its performance within a traditional brokerage ￰9￱ ETF was approved earlier this month under the Investment Company Act of 1940, which is typically used for mutual funds and diversified ￰10￱ sets it apart from the wave of bitcoin ETFs that received green lights under the Securities Act of 1933, a framework used for commodity-based and asset-backed ￰11￱ short, DOJE is structured more like a mutual fund than a commodity ￰12￱ direct exposure may be coming ￰13￱ firms have filed applications to launch spot DOGE ETFs, which would hold the meme coin itself rather than ￰14￱ applications are still under review by the ￰15￱ and Exchange Commission (SEC), which has grown more comfortable with crypto ETFs since approving a slate of bitcoin products in early ￰16￱ broader crypto market has shown that investor demand can outweigh fundamental ￰17￱ coins have long drawn skepticism for having no underlying value or use case, but that hasn't kept them from drawing billions in speculative ￰18￱ said the ETF market is likely to follow the same path.

“There's going to be a bunch of products like this, whether you love it or need it, they're going to be coming to market,” he ￰19￱ added that many existing financial products serve no deeper purpose than providing a vehicle for short-term bets. “There’s plenty of products out there that are just being used as gambling or short-term trading,” he said. “So if there's an audience for this in the crypto world, I wouldn't be surprised at all if this finds an audience in the ETF and TradFi world.” Whether the DOJE ETF opens the door to more meme coin funds — or just proves the concept is viable — may depend on how the market responds this ￰20￱ way, it signals a new phase in the merging of internet culture and traditional finance.