First US Spot Bitcoin ETF to Close as Hashdex Shuts Down DEFI Fund

Hashdex Becomes First Spot Bitcoin ETF Issuer to Shut a Fund#

Hashdex will close its Hashdex Bitcoin ETF (NYSE Arca: DEFI), making it the first US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) to announce a shutdown since the products debuted in January 2024.

The fund's shares will continue trading on NYSE Arca until August 17, after which they will be delisted. Investors who continue holding shares through the liquidation process are expected to receive cash distributions on or around August 28.

Small Asset Base Made the Fund Unsustainable#

The closure highlights the growing divide between the industry's largest Bitcoin ETFs and smaller competitors.

Hashdex's ETF managed just $14.56 million in assets as of August 4, according to SoSoValue. With an annual management fee of 0.25%, the fund generated only about $26,000 in annual revenue.

Its regulatory filings illustrate the challenge. The ETF collected $47,521 in management fees during 2025, but that figure dropped to just $6,453 in the most recent quarter. Meanwhile, Hashdex continued covering operating expenses, including custody, audit, legal, accounting, SEC filing, and tax compliance costs.

Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas noted that the fund's biggest obstacle was its late arrival to an increasingly crowded market, making it difficult for an independent issuer to compete against established asset managers.

By comparison, BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), which charges the same 0.25% fee, managed approximately $47.5 billion in assets on August 4—about 3,260 times larger than DEFI.

What Happens to Investors?#

Following the delisting, Hashdex will liquidate the fund's 225.58 BTC holdings and distribute the proceeds to shareholders after deducting liquidation expenses.

The company cautioned that Bitcoin's price could fluctuate significantly while the assets are being sold. Investors choosing to exit before August 17 may also face limited liquidity. On August 4, DEFI traded just 131 shares, representing roughly $9,560 in trading value.

Scale Continues to Define the ETF Market#

Despite accurately tracking Bitcoin's price within 0.02% and growing assets by 58% from $9.22 million on March 31 to $14.56 million by August 4, the ETF failed to achieve the scale needed to remain commercially viable.

The closure comes even as Hashdex continues managing more than $200 million across its US investment products, underscoring how difficult it has become for smaller ETF issuers to compete in a market increasingly dominated by a handful of industry giants.