As investors await approval of a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the U.S., a check in Brazil finds hefty demand for such vehicles, which have been trading there for more than two years. Together, those ETFs have $96.8 million of assets under management (AUM) as of Nov. 21, led by Hashdex’s Nasdaq Bitcoin Reference Price FDI (BITH11) with $57.8 million in AUM, or a market share of about 60%. For comparison, the largest ETF in the nation, iShares Ibovespa Index (BOVA11), has $2.41 billion in AUM and the second largest, the iShares BM&FBOVESPA Small Cap (SMAL11), has $1.19 billion. The largest U.S. ETF, the SPDR S&P 500, has roughly $430 billion in AUM. According to Marcelo Sampaio, CEO and founder of Hashdex, the success of bitcoin ETFs in Brazil is the result of pro-market digital assets regulation and growing interest from large institutions.
