Here’s what you’ll find in today’s edition:

• CIO speaks to the potential for crypto index funds after Trump Media and Crypto.com share intent to launch one. 

• US stocks are starting to turn things around after a major correction.

• The latest filing suggesting a crypto IPO boom could be coming.

Trump Media wants in on crypto ETFs

As I chatted with execs about the future of crypto ETFs at the Exchange conference in Las Vegas, it came out that Trump Media and Technology Group was linking up with Crypto.com to launch such funds.

Crypto.com initially wrote on its X account that there would be three ETFs in particular: a bitcoin ETF, one investing in both BTC and ether, and another ETF holding BTC, ETH, solana, cronos (CRO), and XRP.

It appears the post was later modified to just mention “a first of its kind ETF basket of cryptocurrencies, including CRO and other crypto assets.”

A Trump Media release also talks of ETFs comprising “securities with a Made in America focus spanning diverse industries such as energy.” The funds would be made available via Crypto.com’s broker-dealer Foris Capital US.

So we don’t know exactly which products the companies could file for. I sought further clarity on this from the two companies and received none. 

We do know that Trump Media in February applied for trademarks for Truth.Fi-branded ETFs and SMAs with “Made in America,” “US Energy Independence” and “Bitcoin Plus” labels. The company noted Yorkville Advisors would act as the RIA for the vehicles.

Adding Crypto.com into this partnership (to offer custody and supply the crypto assets for the ETFs) is perhaps not super surprising given Trump’s meeting with Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek in December. 

Still, The ETF Store president Nate Geraci gave this take on X:

I saw Bloomberg Intelligence’s James Seyffart at the Exchange ETF conference, asking him his initial thoughts.

“It’s interesting that Trump Media is making so much noise about these…but we still don’t have any actual filings,” he said. “I assume we’ll see them in the coming months.” 

Because I chatted with Hashdex CIO Samir Kerbage right after the announcement, I asked for his reaction. Simply put: “It’s not surprising that a lot of players are looking at the space,” he said.

Hashdex knows all about putting multiple crypto assets into one wrapper (as Trump Media and Crypto.com now seek to do). 

The Brazil-based asset manager has crypto index ETFs abroad and seeks to bring that type of exposure to the US via its Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index US ETF. That launched last month, but so far only holds BTC and ETH. Hashdex is meeting with the SEC’s crypto task force on Friday as the regulator weighs other crypto assets it might allow into such a wrapper. 

Hashdex’s goal is to ultimately create “the Nasdaq 100 for crypto,” Kerbage told me. 

“It’s not worth it for [financial advisers] to try to identify each of the individual crypto assets and then [define] the weights they’re going to put in for a very small part of the portfolio,” Kerbage noted.

So while a number of ETF issuers continue filing for single-asset spot crypto ETFs, the Hashdex CIO said indexing is “the next frontier” in this space. 

The crypto indexing category will grow larger than individual asset products over the long term, Kerbage argued. He envisions a world where US crypto index ETFs could hold hundreds of assets with a combined market cap amounting to tens of trillions of dollars.

“Twenty years from now we’re going to be using bitcoin probably way more than we use gold,” he said. “It’s going to be a huge asset, but it’s not going to be the crypto asset that created the most value to our society. That’s what we believe.”

— Ben Strack

Permissionless IV is about the people writing smart contracts, pushing protocols forward, and building what’s next.

🚀 Speaker applications are open. Got something real? Take the mic.

🛠 Hackathon locked & loaded. $100K+ in bounties. Your ticket? Covered.

The value of one USD1, the brand new stablecoin from Trump family crypto project World Liberty Financial. 

The token, backed by US Treasurys and “other cash equivalents,” will be minted on Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain. 

The announcement comes as President Trump continues to push Congress to pass “simple, common-sense rules” for stablecoins and crypto market structure.

US stocks inched into the green before dipping midway through Tuesday’s session as investors shrugged off additional tariff announcements and disappointing economic news. 

The S&P 500 was mostly flat at 2 pm ET, down 0.05%. The Nasdaq Composite had gained 0.2%. The moves follow one of the fastest-ever declines in US equities. 

Between mid-February and mid-March, the S&P 500 managed to erase two years of gains. The index’s 10% decline from a record high earlier this year is the seventh-fastest drop in history. 

The Nasdaq Composite hasn’t seen a record since December 2024, and is currently down more than 5% year to date. But like the S&P 500, it has slowly been clawing back losses in recent days. 

The moves come as more tariff updates come in from Washington. President Trump yesterday announced new tariffs of 25% on any goods from countries that import Venezuelan oil, both directly and indirectly. 

The levies go into effect on April 2. Trump also added that he “may give a lot of countries a break,” though, which presumably calmed investors enough to keep this recovery on track. Additional tariffs on cars, pharmaceuticals and other industries are also expected to be announced soon, the White House said. 

US consumer confidence data was also released Tuesday morning. If you are a US consumer, you probably weren’t surprised to see that confidence once again fell. The index is now at a 12-month low. 

The big catalyst for markets (assuming we don’t get any serious news from the White House, which is always a possibility) will come on Friday when February's PCE report drops. Analysts are expecting annual inflation to remain unchanged from January at 2.5%. We doubt Jay Powell is getting much sleep this week.

— Casey Wagner

Trading platform eToro filed for an IPO yesterday amid expectations that more crypto-related businesses will list on exchanges in the coming months. 

The company’s filing with the SEC comes after eToro in September paid $1.5 million to the regulator to settle charges that it was operating as an unregistered broker (in connection with its crypto trading platform). What a difference a few months makes.

It also comes as crypto exchange Kraken is reportedly looking to raise $1 billion in debt before a possible IPO, unnamed sources told Bloomberg News.  

eToro reported 23 million crypto trades during the fourth quarter of 2024 — up from 9 million the quarter before. Roughly $12.1 billion of its $12.6 billion in 2024 revenue came from crypto trading. 

Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz said during a conference in February that he expects “a whole host of [crypto] companies” listing on the NYSE or the Nasdaq in May or June. His company has been trying to go public in the US for more than four years. 

At last week’s Digital Asset Summit, 10T Holdings CEO Dan Tapiero said he’s expecting “a crypto IPO, M&A, SPAC boom” — noting 10 or so companies his firm invests in could potentially go public in the next few years. 

Tapiero added that wider adoption and ownership of crypto companies via listing on exchanges was a “mini step” before more value moves onchain.

He noted: “American investors like to own businesses with cash flow, balance sheets, income statements, a proper board — and also legitimacy.”

A January survey found that 25% of financial advisers interested in crypto exposure wanted to gain that via equity ETFs (the highest of any method).   

At the Exchange ETF conference, TMX VettaFi investment strategist Cinthia Murphy highlighted this stat on stage. She noted in a space that is complicated for many, crypto equities are “maybe a little bit easier to understand…[with] company valuations and fundamentals.”

— Ben Strack

• Strategy’s latest preferred stock offering, STRF, is set to settle today after raising more than $711 million. The proceeds will be used to purchase bitcoin.

• Government workers sending their new DOGE-mandated “what did you do last week” emails are apparently getting bounce back massages. It would appear the inbox is full. 

• Institutions are eagerly awaiting new regulatory guidelines for crypto staking. Hear about what the landscape looks like now and what new products could be launching at the latest Blockworks Roundtable.