Schwab Asset Management, which has over $655 billion in assets under management, is set to launch its first crypto-themed exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the US.
According to the prospectus filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on July 29, 2022, the ETF will have the ticker symbol “STCE.” The ETF is expected to start trading on the New York Stock Exchange around August 4.
ETF will invest in firms that have investments in crypto
The new ETF will not invest directly in crypto assets. Instead, it will have exposure to the crypto ecosystem by investing in companies that use digital assets as part of their business activities or have exposure to cryptos in the form of investments.
The ETF will have exposure to companies such as MicroStrategy, Marathon Digital Holdings, SBI Holdings, CME Group, Nvidia, Paypal, Interactive Brokers, Hut 8 Mining, Coinbase Global, Silvergate Capital, and Hive Blockchain. The ETF fund will invest up to 20% of its net assets in non-listed securities.
Low-cost ETF
Charles Schwab claims this is the lowest-cost crypto-themed ETF currently available to investors with an operating expense of 0.30%.
Interestingly, the launch marks a change in stance for Charles Schwab chief executive Walt Bettinger who had his doubts about cryptos initially. In fact, Bettinger’s reference to cryptos as hard-to-ignore assets in January 2022 signaled a different line of thinking.
