Bitwise Chainlink ETF approved to list on NYSE Arca, LINK spot ETF to start trading tomorrow

On January 14, asset management firm Bitwise announced that its Chainlink ETF has officially received regulatory approval and will be listed on NYSE Arca. The product is expected to begin trading as early as tomorrow. Overall, this marks a further step toward the compliance of LINK-related investment tools in traditional financial markets.

The Bitwise Chainlink ETF aims to provide investors with a direct way to participate in Chainlink (LINK) price fluctuations through traditional brokerage accounts. The ETF holds LINK physically, allowing investors to gain exposure to this cryptocurrency without managing wallets or private keys themselves, significantly lowering operational and custodial barriers. This design is particularly attractive to funds that prefer compliance and low technical thresholds.

According to disclosures, the fund will trade under the ticker CLNK on NYSE Arca and currently does not participate in staking mechanisms. However, Bitwise has explicitly stated that it will seek relevant approvals in the future to incorporate staking as an auxiliary goal within the fund’s operational framework, aiming to enhance the fund’s LINK yield over the long term.

Regarding fee structure, the ETF has a management fee of 0.34%. To boost early competitiveness, Bitwise will waive all sponsor fees on the first $500 million of assets during the first three months after product launch, temporarily reducing investment costs. Overall, this fee arrangement offers a competitive edge among similar crypto asset ETFs.

From a project background perspective, Chainlink is a decentralized oracle network that provides secure and reliable off-chain data, price information, and system interaction capabilities for smart contracts on the blockchain. It is a crucial infrastructure for DeFi and real-world asset onboarding. As of press time, LINK is priced at approximately $14, with a 24-hour increase of about 7.5%, driven by the overall crypto market recovery.

Notably, the Bitwise Chainlink ETF has become the second spot ETF in the U.S. market linked to LINK. Previously, Grayscale converted its Chainlink Trust into a spot ETF product, GLNK, and disclosed that its assets under management are close to $87.5 million. Overall, the widespread launch of LINK-related ETFs is opening new compliant channels for institutional funds to enter the oracle track.