Securities and Exchange Commission
- [Release No. 34-104212; File No. SR-NYSEARCA-2024-98]
I. Introduction
On November 14, 2024, NYSE Arca, Inc. (“NYSE Arca” or “Exchange”) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“Commission”), pursuant to section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”) [1] and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,[2] a proposed rule change to list and trade shares of the Bitwise 10 Crypto Index ETF under certain proposed listing rules.[3]
On July 22, 2025, the Commission, acting through authority delegated to the Division of Trading and Markets (“Division”),[4] approved the proposed rule change, as modified by Amendment No. 1, on an accelerated basis.[5] On July 22, 2025, the Deputy Secretary of the Commission notified NYSE Arca that, pursuant to Commission Rule of Practice 431,[6] the Commission would review the Division's action pursuant to delegated authority and that the Division's action pursuant to delegated authority was stayed until the Commission ordered otherwise.[7] On July 29, 2025, the Commission issued a scheduling order, pursuant to Commission Rule of Practice 431, providing until August 22, 2025, for any party or other person to file a written statement in support of, or in opposition to, the Approval Order.[8]
The Commission has conducted a de novo review of NYSE Arca's proposal, giving careful consideration to the entire record, including all comments and statements submitted, to determine whether the proposal is consistent with the requirements of the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations thereunder that are applicable to a national securities exchange. Under section 19(b)(2)(C) of the Exchange Act, the Commission must approve the proposed rule change of a self-regulatory organization if the Commission finds that the proposed rule change is consistent with the requirements of the Exchange Act and the applicable rules and regulations thereunder; if it does not make such a finding, the Commission must disapprove the proposed rule change.[9] Additionally, under Rule 700(b)(3) of the Commission's Rules of Practice, the “burden to demonstrate that a proposed rule change is consistent with the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations issued thereunder . . . is on the self-regulatory organization that proposed the rule change.” [10] The description of a proposed rule change, its purpose and operation, its effect, and a legal analysis of its consistency with applicable requirements must all be sufficiently detailed and specific to support an affirmative Commission finding.[11] Any failure of a self-regulatory organization to provide the information required by Rule 19b-4 and elicited on Form 19b-4 may result in the Commission not having a sufficient basis to make an affirmative finding that a proposed rule change is consistent with the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations thereunder that are applicable to the self-regulatory organization.[12]
For the reasons discussed further herein, NYSE Arca has met its burden to show that the proposed rule change is consistent with the Exchange Act, and this order sets aside the Approval Order and approves NYSE Arca's proposed rule change, as modified by Amendment No. 1. In particular, the Commission concludes that the record before the Commission demonstrates that NYSE Arca's proposal is consistent with section 6(b)(5) of the Exchange Act,[13] which requires that the rules of a national securities exchange be designed, among other things, to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices, to promote just and equitable principles of trade, to remove impediments to and perfect the mechanism of a free and open market and a national market system and, in general, to protect investors and the public interest.
II. Summary of the Proposal
The Exchange proposes to list and trade shares (“Shares”) of the Bitwise 10 Crypto Index ETF (“Trust”) under NYSE Arca Rule 8.500-E.[14] The investment objective of the Trust is to invest in a portfolio of digital assets (each, a ( printed page 52725) “Portfolio Asset” and, collectively, “Portfolio Assets”) that tracks the Bitwise 10 Large Cap Crypto Index (“Index”).[15] The Trust's only assets will be the Portfolio Assets and cash.[16] The Trust rebalances monthly alongside the rebalance of the Index to stay current with any changes to the Index.[17] The Portfolio Assets, as well as their weightings, are generally expected to be the same as the Index, except that the Sponsor may determine to exclude a particular digital asset from the Portfolio Assets and/or rebalance the weighting of the Portfolio Assets in certain rules-based circumstances.[18] The Sponsor will ensure that, on an initial and a continuing basis, as of 4 p.m. E.T. on every trading day, at least 85% of the Portfolio Assets will consist of commodities that are the primary investment underlying exchange-traded products (“ETPs”) that have been approved by the Commission to list and trade on a national securities exchange (“Approved Components”) [19] and that no more than 15% of the Portfolio Assets will be non-Approved Components.[20] As of June 30, 2025, the Trust's Portfolio Assets and their weightings were: 78.72% bitcoin (BTC), 11.10% ether (ETH), 4.97% XRP (XRP), 3.03% Solana (SOL), 0.78% Cardano (ADA), 0.35% SUI (SUI), 0.32% Chainlink (LINK), 0.28% Avalanche (AVAX), 0.24% Litecoin (LTC), and 0.19% Polkadot (DOT).[21]
To determine the Trust's net asset value (“NAV”), the Sponsor will rely on CF Benchmarks Ltd. (the “Valuation Vendor”) to calculate and publish the U.S. dollar price for each Portfolio Asset (each, a “Reference Price” and, collectively, “Reference Prices”) as of 4 p.m. E.T.,[22] and the Trust will use the Reference Prices to calculate its NAV.[23] The Trust creates and redeems Shares from time to time for cash in one or more “Creation Units,” which will initially consist of at least 10,000 Shares, but may be subject to change.[24]
III. Discussion and Commission Findings
The Commission finds that the proposed rule change, as modified by Amendment No. 1, is consistent with the requirements of the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations thereunder applicable to a national securities exchange.[25] In particular, the Commission finds that the proposal is consistent with section 6(b)(5) of the Exchange Act,[26] which requires, among other things, that the Exchange's rules be designed to “prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices” and, “in general, to protect investors and the public interest;” and with section 11A(a)(1)(C)(iii) of the Exchange Act,[27] which sets forth Congress' finding that it is in the public interest and appropriate for the protection of investors and the maintenance of fair and orderly markets to assure the availability to brokers, dealers, and investors of information with respect to quotations for and transactions in securities. The Commission therefore approves the proposed rule change, as modified by Amendment No. 1.
A. Exchange Act Section 6(b)(5)
The Commission finds that the listing and trading of the Trust is consistent with the Exchange Act. The structure of ( printed page 52726) the Trust, the terms of its operation and the trading of its Shares, and the representations in the proposal are substantially similar to those of other proposals approved in prior Commission orders. On an initial basis, and on a continuing basis reflecting subsequent ETP approvals, at least 85% of the Trust's holdings will consist of commodities that the Commission has approved to underlie an ETP as primary investments, with no more than 15% of the Trust's investments in other assets, which could include other types of commodities as well as securities.[28] The Commission has previously found that the risks associated with fraud and manipulation are sufficiently mitigated if an ETP holds at least 80% of the investments in assets that do not raise concerns relating to fraud and manipulation.[29] In approving an ETP with a commodity as a primary investment, the Commission must find under section 6(b)(5) that there are sufficient means to prevent fraud and manipulation.[30] Accordingly, the Commission finds that the requirement that the Trust will hold at least 85% of its investments in assets approved by the Commission to underlie an ETP as primary investments will enable adequate surveillance of the Shares on the Exchange.
Pursuant to section 19(b)(2) of the Exchange Act, the Commission must approve a proposed rule change filed by a national securities exchange if it finds that the proposed rule change is consistent with the applicable requirements of the Exchange Act.[31] As such, based on the record before the Commission, the Commission finds that the proposal is consistent with the requirements of the Exchange Act, including the requirement in section 6(b)(5) [32] that the Exchange's rules be designed to “prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices.”
B. Exchange Act Section 11A(a)(1)(C)(iii)
The proposal sets forth aspects of the Trust, including the availability of pricing information, transparency of portfolio holdings, and types of surveillance procedures, that are consistent with other ETPs that the Commission has approved.[33] This includes commitments regarding: the availability of quotation and last-sale information for the Shares; the availability on the Trust's website of certain information related to the Trust, including NAV; the dissemination of an intra-day indicative value by one or more major market data vendors, updated every 15 seconds throughout the Exchange's core trading session; the Exchange's surveillance procedures and ability to obtain information regarding trading in the Shares; the conditions under which the Exchange would implement trading halts and suspensions; and the requirements of registered market makers in the Shares.[34] In addition, the Exchange deems the Shares to be equity securities, thus rendering trading in the Shares subject to the Exchange's existing rules governing the trading of equity securities.[35] Further, the listing rules of the Exchange require that all statements and representations made in its filing regarding, among others, the description of the Trust's holdings, limitations on such holdings, and the applicability of the Exchange's listing rules specified in the filing, will constitute continued listing requirements.[36] Moreover, the proposal states that: the Trust's Sponsor has represented to the Exchange that it will advise the Exchange of any failure by the Trust to comply with the continued listing requirements; pursuant to obligations under section 19(g)(1) of the Exchange Act, the Exchange will monitor for compliance with the continued listing requirements; and if the Trust is not in compliance with the applicable listing requirements, the Exchange will commence delisting procedures.[37]
The Commission therefore finds that the proposal, as with other ETPs that the Commission has approved,[38] is reasonably designed to promote fair disclosure of information that may be necessary to price the Shares appropriately, to prevent trading when a reasonable degree of transparency cannot be assured, to safeguard material non-public information relating to the Trust's portfolio, and to ensure fair and orderly markets for the Shares.
C. Comments
The Commission received two comment letters supporting the proposal.[39] One of these commenters ( printed page 52727) states that approving the proposal would provide benefits to investors while promoting fair, orderly, and efficient markets.[40] The other commenter agrees with the Division's conclusion that the proposal is consistent with the Exchange Act and does not raise novel regulatory issues.[41]
One commenter opposing the proposal contends that the proposal should be disapproved because the Fund would hold XRP and Solana and details a number of arguments in favor of disapproval, including, among other things: neither XRP nor Solana has an established futures market; each of XRP and Solana has been allegedly classified as an unregistered security by the Commission; neither XRP nor Solana is truly decentralized; and reliable on-chain analytics are not widely available for either XRP or Solana.[42] As discussed above, the Trust will limit the amount of assets that are not the primary investment underlying ETPs approved by the Commission to 15% of the weight of the Trust's portfolio, and this limitation is consistent with similar limitations approved by the Commission with respect to ETP investments.[43] In addition, although this commenter states that neither XRP nor Solana has an established futures market, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange currently lists and trades both XRP and Solana futures contracts.[44]
Another commenter opposing the proposal states that recent events, such as the hack of crypto exchange Bybit, have exposed the risk that investors will suffer losses due to crypto hacks as well as to crypto assets' extreme volatility, and believes that approving the proposal would endanger investors.[45] While the Commission acknowledges concerns relating to hacking and volatility, pursuant to section 19(b)(2) of the Exchange Act, the Commission must approve a proposed rule change filed by a national securities exchange if it finds that the proposed rule change is consistent with the applicable requirements of the Exchange Act.[46] The Commission does not apply a “cannot be manipulated” standard; rather, the Commission examines whether a proposal meets the requirements of the Exchange Act.[47] The Commission does not understand the Exchange Act to require that a particular product or market be immune from manipulation. Rather, the inquiry into whether the rules of an exchange are designed to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices and, in general, to protect investors and the public interest, has long focused on the mechanisms in place for the detection and deterrence of fraud and manipulation. For the reasons described above, the Commission finds that the proposal satisfies the requirements of the Exchange Act, including the requirement in section 6(b)(5) that the Exchange's rules be designed to “prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices.”
IV. Conclusion
For the foregoing reasons, the Commission finds that the proposed rule change is consistent with the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations thereunder applicable to a national securities exchange.
It is therefore ordered, pursuant to Rule 431 of the Commission's Rules of Practice, that the earlier action taken by delegated authority, Securities Exchange Act Release No. 103531 (July 22, 2025), 90 FR 35339 (July 25, 2025), is set aside and, pursuant to section 19(b)(2) of the Exchange Act, the proposed rule change (SR-NYSEARCA-2024-98), as modified by Amendment No. 1, hereby is approved.
By the Commission.
Sherry R. Haywood,
Assistant Secretary.