Yorkville America has announced the launch of an artificial intelligence ETF, the MANGOS Plus Index ETF, which will trade under the ticker FRUT (PR Newswire). Yorkville previously served as investment advisor to Truth Social's now-defunct digital-asset funds, and the move is being viewed as a signal of the firm's departure from crypto toward AI stocks.

From Bitcoin baskets to a single-ticket AI fund

The new FRUT fund is designed around the hardware aspects of artificial intelligence. Yorkville America describes FRUT as a "single-ticket expression" of the platform and hardware layers of AI, meaning investors gain exposure to AI infrastructure through a single product rather than assembling a mix of individual chipmakers and platform names.

The launch places Yorkville in an increasingly crowded corner of the ETF market, where issuers have rushed to roll out AI-themed products as investor attention has shifted toward the semiconductor and infrastructure companies that underpin AI development.

The launch is notable given Yorkville America's background: the firm advised Truth Social Funds, the ETF arm of Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), and had spent the past eighteen months developing crypto products.

The crypto ETFs that came first

Before its pivot to AI, Yorkville America served as advisor to several digital-asset funds. In February of this year, TMTG filed with the SEC for the Truth Social Bitcoin and Ether ETF, a joint product weighted approximately 60% to Bitcoin and 40% to Ethereum (Reuters).

A companion filing covered the Truth Social Cronos Yield Maximizer ETF, centered on Cronos (CRO), the token linked to Crypto.com. Both funds were structured to distribute staking rewards to shareholders. Crypto.com was slated to act as custodian while also providing liquidity and staking services, and Yorkville America Equities advised on both funds.

Why TMTG withdrew the crypto filings

The digital asset effort gained little traction. In May of this year, Truth Social withdrew its Form S-1 registration statements for the Truth Social Bitcoin ETF and the Truth Social Bitcoin & Ethereum ETF.

"The Company has determined to withdraw the Registration Statement and not to pursue the public offering at this time," the filing stated.

Yorkville America framed the withdrawal as repositioning rather than a defeat. Steve Neamtz, President of Yorkville America, stated that the '40 Act structure "allows us to bring more differentiated investment strategies to our investors that are not possible under the '33 Act framework."

The '33 Act, or Securities Act of 1933, governs how securities are first offered for sale to the public. The '40 Act, the Investment Company Act of 1940, governs the organization and structure of investment companies.

Not everyone shares that interpretation. James Seyffart, a Bloomberg analyst, believes the decision is tied to the saturation of the spot Bitcoin ETF market, pointing to Morgan Stanley's MSBT, which launched with a 14 basis-point fee.

The SEC initially approved US spot Bitcoin ETFs in January 2024, and those funds have since accumulated inflows totaling $57.7 billion. That flood of assets into established spot Bitcoin products has made it harder for late entrants to differentiate themselves, a dynamic that has pushed smaller issuers toward niche strategies — whether staking-reward products like the withdrawn Truth Social funds or thematic vehicles like FRUT.