Bitwise files S-1 form to launch Aptos ETF in the US, token surges 7%

Bitwise has filed an S-1 application form twith the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Mar. 5 to launch an Aptos (APT) exchange-traded fund (ETF).

The news caused APT to surge 7% in one hour, increasing from $6.06 to $6.50 as of press time, based on CryptoSlate data.

According to the filing, the ETF’s net asset value (NAV) will be determined using the CF Aptos-Dollar Settlement Price, a pricing benchmark aggregating trading data from major Aptos trading platforms. Coinbase will act as the ETF custodian.

Additionally, the fund will be cash-settled, and the shares will be created and redeemed in blocks of 10,000 shares.

The formal filing of the S-1 Form comes one week after Bitwise registered the fund with Delaware’s Department of State. Following this news, APT jumped 8%.

Bitwise previously launched an Aptos exchange-traded product (ETP) on the SIX Swiss Exchange in November 2024. The ETP offers staking of the underlying APT tokens. 

Aptos’s official profile on X posted about the filing, acknowledging it as the “initial step toward offering an ETF linked to Aptos in the US market.”

Avery Ching, CEO and co-founder of Aptos Labs, said the filing is a “big first” for the Move ecosystem. Move is the underlying programming language for Aptos, created by developers involved in Meta’s defunct stablecoin project, Libra.

ETF trend

The Bitwise Aptos ETF follows a trend that started after President Donald Trump was elected. Bitwise recently filed for a Dogecoin (DOGE) ETF and is waiting for the conversion of its index tracking 10 different cryptos, which the SEC recently delayed.

Other filings from different asset managers include Litecoin (LTC), Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), Hedera (HBAR), and XRP. 

Bloomberg ETF analysts James Seyffart and Eric Balchunas predicted such movement in late 2024, as the prospect of a crypto-friendly administration in the US would boost the odds of approvals and create a “wave of crypto ETFs.”

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