Investment firm Hashdex has announced its newest bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) offering in Brazil, BITH11. The investment vehicle provides bitcoin exposure to retail investors by tracking the Nasdaq Bitcoin Reference Price (NQBTC).
"In addition to being an asset of great technological importance, Bitcoin is now considered by many as a potential store of value," the announcement read. "Its predictable monetary base, the security of its decentralized network and its low-correlation with other asset classes have caught the attention of...renowned investors in the traditional finance market, who, along with the growth of the network, has made Bitcoin appreciate in value by thousands of times in the past decade."
Shares of the BITH11 ETF track the bitcoin market price as reflected by the NQBTC, in Reais, Brazil's national fiat currency, minus fees and expenses. The fund invests in shares of the Hashdex Nasdaq Bitcoin (HNB) ETF, a wholly-owned fund established in the Cayman Islands and listed on the Bermuda Stock Exchange (BSX). The HNB ETF invests in bitcoin through spot and futures positions to track the NQBTC – a benchmark developed by Nasdaq to reflect the bitcoin market price in dollars.
Hashdex currently has six fund offerings and over $600 million in assets under management (AUM). However, BITH11, which incurs administration fees of 0.3% a year, is not Brazil's first, as QR Capital launched a 100% bitcoin ETF in March 2021.
But BITH11 is the first carbon-neutral bitcoin ETF in Brazil. Hashdex said it would work with german carbon rating company CCRI to estimate the carbon footprint of all bitcoin acquired by the HNB ETF – the fund BITH11 invests in. The investment manager said it would then purchase carbon credits and invest in carbon-neutralizing projects to offset its carbon footprint, limited to a yearly sum of 0.15% of HNB's liquid assets total value.
Carbon-neutrality is currently in vogue, especially when it comes to Bitcoin. However, Bitcoin is not harmful to the planet. It is uniquely positioned to help the entire world employ clean energy sources more widely, as well as help fossil-fuel-powered energy producers leverage stranded energy and capture pollutant waste, thereby increasing efficiency and reducing emissions.