According to reports from The Wall Street Journal and GlobeNewswire, asset management company Hashdex announced the closure of its US-listed Bitcoin ETF, DEFI, which trades on NYSE Arca under the DEFI ticker. The fund will stop trading after market close on August 17, followed by asset liquidation and NYSE Arca delisting. Remaining shareholders should receive cash liquidation payments around August 28, with the amount dependent on Bitcoin's price during the liquidation period. The closure comes after DEFI failed to attract sufficient assets and trading volume to remain viable in the competitive US spot Bitcoin ETF market. As reported by CoinDesk, this marks the first closure of a US spot bitcoin ETF, with Bitcoin futures ETFs having previously closed before, including VanEck's XBTF in 2024. The fund held approximately $14.7 million in assets as of July 30, 2026, positioning it among the smallest US spot Bitcoin products.
According to CoinDesk data, DEFI held approximately $14.7 million in net assets as of the latest reporting, positioning it among the smallest US spot Bitcoin products. This compares significantly to the next-smallest competitor, WisdomTree's BTCW, which holds $142.4 million, and market leader BlackRock's IBIT, which commands $47.08 billion in net assets. The fund's website listed a net asset value of $71.32 per share and a closing price of $71.15 as of July 31. DEFI normally invests at least 95% of its assets in spot Bitcoin, with the remainder available for cash, cash equivalents, and CME-listed Bitcoin futures. The DEFI ETF is also the sole series of Hashdex Commodities Trust, meaning the trust itself dissolves once the liquidation concludes.
As reported by CoinDesk, flows into the ETFs have dwindled as investors chased better returns offered by AI-related investments. According to data from SoSoValue, the funds have seen net outflows in each of the past three months. BlackRock's iShares Future AI & Tech ETF gained 39% through July and held $3.6 billion in assets, while the crypto market fell roughly 36% based on the CoinDesk 20 (CD20) Index. K33 Research head Vetle Lunde noted in a June report that "much of the market views the opportunity cost of holding BTC as too high while anything AI-related soars." The fund's closure reflects a structural reality that has hardened since US spot Bitcoin ETFs launched: fixed costs, custody, compliance, and exchange listing fees do not scale down proportionally with a fund's assets.
According to CoinDesk, Hashdex entered the spot Bitcoin market after its competitors, having introduced DEFI as a bitcoin futures ETF in September 2022, but the fund didn't convert into a spot product until late March 2024. This timing placed DEFI behind larger competitors that had already accumulated substantial assets and trading volume, making it harder to compete on liquidity despite charging a 0.25% expense ratio that matched those charged by BlackRock and Fidelity. The broader US spot Bitcoin ETF market holds $77.6 billion in net assets and has received a cumulative $51.5 billion in net inflows over its lifetime, contrasting sharply with DEFI's performance. Asset flows in the spot Bitcoin ETF market have concentrated heavily in the largest, most liquid products, leaving smaller funds competing for a shrinking pool of undecided capital.
As reported by CoinDesk, Hashdex is not withdrawing from the US crypto ETF market entirely. The company still manages more than $200 million across its remaining US-available products, including the diversified Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index US ETF (NCIQ). Bitcoin represented 78% of NCIQ's portfolio as of July 27, while Ethereum accounted for 12.2%. The company reduced NCIQ's annual management fee from 0.50% to 0.25% in March, maintaining its competitive position in the diversified crypto ETF segment. The firm has also been expanding its US sales and distribution team, signaling a focus on products with broader market reach than a single-asset spot fund.
