The Hashdex Bitcoin Futures ETF is the first bitcoin futures ETF regulated under the 1933 Securities Act (‘33 Act).

The Hashdex Bitcoin Futures ETF ticker “DEFI” recognizes Bitcoin’s transformational role in launching the movement toward decentralized finance, products, and services.

Attempts to create an internet-based “digital cash” began in the 1990s, but each had shortcomings that prevented them from becoming mainstream. This changed after the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto released “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System” in 2008, describing a new protocol for exchanging value without a bank, government, or other third party. The network launched a few months after the paper’s release and the first bitcoin transaction took place on January 12, 2009. Bitcoin, with its combination of technological tools and economic incentives, promised a new, more equitable financial system.

The Bitcoin network (capital “B”) establishes ownership of bitcoin (lower case “b”) via recorded transactions on its blockchain, which serves as a fully transparent, public record of activity. A decentralized network of computers (nodes) validates and confirms transactions nearly instantaneously, regardless of location. These nodes can access the entire blockchain and collectively confirm bitcoin ownership. Once a transaction is validated, it is packaged with other recent transactions into a “block” to be permanently added to the blockchain. Before these blocks of data are added to the blockchain, the nodes assign each block a unique alphanumeric signature (a hash) which will be linked to the previous block, creating the “chain” part of the blockchain. This immutable linkage to the blockchain is the most important part of securing a bitcoin transaction, so the Bitcoin network provides incentives to nodes that spend the time and energy to make this happen. These nodes, called miners, are rewarded with bitcoin. Because Bitcoin has a fixed supply cap—there will only ever be 21 million bitcoin—the incentives for miners change as more bitcoins come into circulation.

The simplest definition of a blockchain is a decentralized public ledger where transactions are confirmed by a network of compensated participants. Bitcoin’s blockchain was a novel idea due to the combination of technologies used to create a truly decentralized and immutable public ledger. Previously, financial transactions were dependent on banks and other entities managing both sides of the transaction, including maintaining personal information about the parties and placing restrictions on certain transactions.