T. Rowe Price has filed to hold a broad set of digital assets in its new exchange-traded fund (ETF), including bitcoin, ether, dogecoin and shiba inu.
The asset manager, which has $1.8 trillion in assets under management, filed an amended S-1 registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), offering new details about its planned Price Active Crypto ETF, a fund designed to provide investors with actively managed exposure to digital assets.
The updated filing, filed Monday, expands on the company’s original application in October and outlines the cryptocurrencies the fund can invest in, along with details on custody, business structure and potential staking activity.
According to the document, the ETF could contain various digital assets, including bitcoin. ether (ETH), solana (SOL), XRP (XRP), avalanche (AVAX), , , hedera (HBAR), chain link stellar lumen (XLM), shiba inu (SHIB) and .
Despite this large universe, the fund will not hold all of these assets at the same time. Under normal circumstances, the ETF plans to hold between five and fifteen crypto assets at a time, using an active management strategy rather than tracking a single token or passively following a benchmark. The portfolio will be rebalanced using quantitative models incorporating fundamentals, valuation and market momentum, with the goal of outperforming the FTSE US Listed crypto index, according to the document.
The amended filing also confirmed that Anchorage Digital Bank NA will act as the fund’s crypto asset custodian, responsible for safeguarding digital tokens held by the ETF.
For now, the fund will use a cash subscription and redemption model, meaning investors will create or redeem ETF shares using cash rather than transferring cryptocurrency directly. The filing notes that the structure could evolve to allow in-kind transactions in the future, a model that some crypto ETFs use to exchange shares for the underlying digital assets.
Another notable addition in the filing is the possibility that the fund can engage in staking, a process used by some blockchains where token holders lock assets to help secure the network in exchange for rewards.
T. Rowe Price said bets could be placed on the future depending on risk considerations, tax treatment and regulatory guidance.
The filing marks another step by the 87-year-old investment firm, which is a top 25 asset management firm, toward its entry into the digital asset market.
If approved, the product would join a growing list of cryptocurrency investment vehicles designed to give investors exposure to the sector through traditional brokerage accounts.
The fund’s active approach could set it apart from the wave of spot bitcoin ETFs launching in the US in 2024, allowing managers more flexibility to change their holdings as crypto markets evolve.
