9-6-2025 – Nasdaq has put forth a compelling proposal to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on 7 June 2025. The initiative seeks to broaden the scope of the Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index ETF (NCIQ) by incorporating a quartet of prominent digital assets: XRP, Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), and Stellar Lumens (XLM). This strategic expansion aims to align the ETF with the comprehensive Nasdaq Crypto Index (NCI), which tracks nine tokens, moving beyond the narrower Nasdaq Crypto US Settlement Price Index (NCIUS) currently in use.
At present, regulatory constraints limit the NCIQ to holding only Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), despite the NCI index encompassing a wider array of cryptocurrencies. This mismatch introduces the risk of tracking errors, potentially undermining the ETF’s performance. Should the SEC greenlight Nasdaq’s proposal, the ETF would gain the flexibility to invest in all assets within the NCI, promising a more robust and diversified portfolio for investors. The SEC is expected to deliver its verdict by 2 November 2025, a decision that could herald a transformative moment for crypto-focused exchange-traded funds in the U.S. market.
This development underscores Nasdaq’s ambition to bridge the gap between traditional finance and the rapidly evolving digital asset landscape, offering investors a more inclusive gateway to the burgeoning world of cryptocurrencies.
