Hashdex Asset Management will liquidate its DEFI spot Bitcoin ETF after sustained weak trading activity and limited investor demand. The fund will cease trading on NYSE Arca on August 17, 2026, after which Hashdex will sell its Bitcoin holdings on the open market and return cash to shareholders.

The closure ends a roughly two-year effort by Hashdex to compete in a US spot Bitcoin ETF market dominated by substantially larger products. As of the end of July, DEFI held approximately 225 Bitcoin and between $14.25 million and $14.7 million in net assets.

Liquidation Schedule and Shareholder Payouts

Hashdex stated that it reviewed trading liquidity, operating costs, and investor interest before approving the closure. According to an SEC filing, the fund plans to sell its Bitcoin holdings on the open market and convert the remaining portfolio into cash.

Shareholders are expected to receive liquidating distributions on or around August 28, 2026. Investors who retain their shares until liquidation will receive cash based on the fund's final net asset value, net of fees and closing costs.

DEFI originally launched in 2022 as the Hashdex Bitcoin Futures ETF. The firm subsequently converted it into a spot Bitcoin fund that tracked the Nasdaq Bitcoin Reference Price and held Bitcoin directly. The conversion positioned DEFI among the wave of spot Bitcoin products that launched after the SEC approved them in January 2024, ending a decade-long pattern of rejections for physically backed Bitcoin ETFs. The fund's net assets peaked at approximately $17.54 million in May 2025 — some estimates placed the high near $18 million — leaving it well behind rival products that each attracted billions of dollars.

Concentrated Bitcoin ETF Market

The US spot Bitcoin ETF market has remained highly concentrated since regulators approved the first wave of products in January 2024. BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust and several other major funds captured the overwhelming majority of inflows and trading volume. That concentration mirrors a broader pattern in the ETF industry, where large, early-moving issuers typically benefit from scale advantages in liquidity, marketing reach, and institutional relationships — dynamics that can make it difficult for smaller later entrants to attract sufficient assets to cover operating costs.

Hashdex entered the spot market only after ten competing products had already launched. Even WisdomTree Bitcoin Trust, the next-smallest comparable fund, held approximately $140.37 million in assets by the most recent Friday market close — roughly ten times the size of DEFI.

DEFI shareholders are not required to sell their shares before trading ends on August 17. However, the liquidation will remove the option to remain invested through the fund. Hashdex will distribute cash rather than transferring Bitcoin or shares into another ETF, a process that may create a taxable event for some investors.

The closure underscores why prospective buyers often evaluate assets under management, daily trading volume, and bid-ask spreads before selecting smaller Bitcoin ETFs.