“This is the first-ever ETF in the U.S. that intentionally holds an asset without any utility,” said Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas, commenting on the launch of the Rex-Osprey Doge ETF (ticker: DOJE), scheduled for Thursday.

The fund is being created under the Investment Company Act of 1940, which imposes stricter requirements on diversification and governance compared to the Securities Act of 1933 used for commodity trusts. Investment professional Ganesh Mahidhar explained that this framework provides greater investor protection and makes the product more similar to traditional stock and bond ETFs than to a Bitcoin ETF.

However, Dogecoin’s meme status raises questions about the future of other similar cryptocurrencies. Mahidhar noted that unlike Shiba Inu and Pepe, DOGE runs on proof-of-work and has an “energy floor,” which gives it more resilience.

The launch comes as more than 90 crypto ETF applications are awaiting SEC decisions, including proposals for Solana and XRP. While institutional portfolios are unlikely to pay attention to the Dogecoin fund for now, rising market cap and volatility could eventually draw interest. At present, DOGE is trading around $0.24, up more than 11% over the past week.