- REX and Osprey plan to list the DOJE ETF on Thursday under the 1940 Act.
- The SEC continues to review a larger queue of 1933 Act crypto ETF filings.
REX Shares and Osprey Funds are preparing to launch the REX-Osprey DOGE ETF with ticker DOJE on Thursday under the Investment Company Act of 1940, according to Bloomberg’s Eric Balchunas. The analyst flagged the timing and structure as similar to a recent Solana product that used the same pathway.
REX and Osprey set DOJE listing under 1940 Act framework used for prior Solana fund
The product is designed as a registered investment company under the 1940 Act rather than a grantor trust under the Securities Act of 1933. That distinction matters for crypto because several spot token funds lodged under the 1933 Act remain pending with regulators. The 1940 Act route has been used to bring exposures to market where direct spot structures face delays.
Balchunas described the debut as the start of a “meme coin ETF era” and noted that DOJE is slated for a Thursday launch. He contrasted the 1940 Act approach with a “big group” of 1933 Act applicants awaiting decisions. A subsequent post emphasized that the product would be the first US ETF intentionally holding a token with no designed utility, underscoring the novelty of the exposure within a regulated wrapper.
SEC weighs broader 1933 Act crypto lineup as DOJE proceeds via different rulebook
The launch plan comes as the Securities and Exchange Commission has taken more time to evaluate other crypto proposals, including a Bitwise filing reported this week. The bifurcation highlights how applicants are sequencing filings across regimes while they test investor demand for single-asset funds beyond bitcoin and ether.
Market attention now turns to how DOJE will trade in its first sessions, including liquidity in primary market creations and redemptions and the depth of the secondary market on listing day. Similar launches have concentrated volume into a handful of market makers initially, with spreads tightening as inventory builds.
Meme coin ETF era about to kick off it looks like with $DOJE slated for a Thursday launch, albeit under the 40 Act a la $SSK. There's a big group of '33 Act-ers waiting for SEC approval still. Pretty sure this is first-ever US ETF to hold something that has no utility on purpose pic.twitter.com/BIcpu1zR4o
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) September 9, 2025
The 1940 Act design also raises questions about portfolio implementation, cash handling, and any Cayman subsidiary arrangements used to obtain token exposure. Dogecoin itself has rallied into the announcement window, with several outlets tracking double-digit percentage moves over recent days.
That volatility is a reminder that basis risk, tracking error, and premiums or discounts to indicative value are live considerations for investors in novel single-asset crypto funds. Whether flows materialize will depend on how institutions judge custody, creation costs, and the operational ease of an ETF versus holding DOGE directly.
If DOJE lists as expected on Thursday, it will extend a year in which exchange-traded structures have broadened crypto’s distribution in US brokerage channels. It would also provide a contemporaneous datapoint for the SEC as it evaluates a wider slate of applications tied to memecoins and other digital assets lodged under the 1933 Act.
