$7.5T Asset Manager Charles Schwab Files for a Crypto-Focused ETF

The half a decade-old multinational financial service giant has followed the footsteps of Blackrock into filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission to release a Crypto Economy ETF.

• The document informed that the main goal of the fund will be to “track as closely as possible, before fees and expenses, the total return of an index that is designed to deliver global exposure to companies that may benefit from the development or utilization of cryptocurrencies (including bitcoin).”
• It will also focus on other business activities related to the blockchain industry. If approved, it will go live under the name Crypto Economy ETF on the NYSE Arca exchange.
• The filing also revealed that the fund will track the performance of the Schwab Crypto Economy Index.
• Additionally, Charles Schwab clarified that the new product “will not invest in cryptocurrency or digital assets directly. The fund will not invest in initial coin offerings.”
• However, it could get indirect exposure to cryptocurrencies by investing in companies that use or hold such assets as part of their business activities.
• In April last year, the asset manager with over $7.5 trillion in AUM also said it will offer crypto services once the US implements clearer regulations.
• One of Charles Schwab’s main rivals – Blackrock – also filed with the SEC in early 2022 for a cryptocurrency exchange-traded fund called iShares Blockchain and Tech ETF.

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