Fidelity kickstarts process to list metaverse and crypto company ETFs

Fidelity Investments has kickstarted the process with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch two exchange-traded funds (ETFs) which will track companies operating in the crypto and metaverse industries. 

The Crypto Industry and Digital Payments ETF will look to track the performance of a set of companies offering crypto mining, support services, blockchain technology, and digital payments processing—rather than cryptos themselves. 

The Fidelity Metaverse ETF will be set up to deliver returns tracking an index comprised of the stocks of companies generating at least 50% of their total revenue from categories such as computing hardware and components, digital infrastructure, gaming tech and wearable tech. 

The move follows Fidelity Investments’ filing for a Canadian ETF that would give investors exposure to Bitcoin.

The SEC had rejected the financial services company’s application for a spot bitcoin ETF proposal. The regulator raised concerns about fraud, manipulation and investor protection. Such concerns have been floated by the SEC for years, dating back to its rejection of a bitcoin ETF proposal put forward by Cameron and Tyler Winkelvoss, owners of crypto exchange Gemini. 

The Bitwise Crypto Industry Innovators ETF and the First Trust SkyBridge Crypto Industry & Digital Economy ETF both launched last year.