There Will Soon be a New Way to Bet on the Technology Behind Bitcoin

Investors will soon have a new way to bet on the technology behind bitcoin.
A new exchange-traded fund tracking blockchain companies by RealityShares is set to start trading on Nasdaq on Wednesday January 17, a person familiar with the matter told Business Insider.

An exchange-traded fund that bets on companies with blockchain technology is set to start trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market on Wednesday January 17, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Exchange operator Nasdaq and Reality Shares, an ETF issuer and index provider, unveiled an index in November designed to capture the growth of blockchain technology. The Reality Shares Nasdaq Blockchain Economy ETF by Reality Shares will be based on that index and is anticipated to start trading Wednesday, a source told Business Insider.

"The Index is designed to measure the returns of companies that are committing material resources to developing, researching, supporting, innovating or utilizing blockchain technology for their proprietary use or for use by others," a preliminary filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission said.

It appears the fund will be the first of its kind to trade on a US exchange. VanEck's Semiconductor ETF gives exposure to the blockchain ecosystem via semiconductor companies which make chips required for bitcoin mining.

Blockchain is best known for being the technology underlying cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, but it also has multiple applications outside of cryptocurrencies.

As a decentralized ledger, blockchain can facilitate exchanges of assets without the need of a middle-man. As such, it has gripped the attention of Wall Street with companies such as Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Morgan Stanley all participating in at least one blockchain consortium.

The ETF, however, will track companies in a number of additional industries including retail and tech, according to the index website.