Bitwise filed paperwork on Tuesday to form a Delaware statutory trust named “Bitwise Uniswap ETF,” positioning itself to pursue a possible exchange-traded fund tied to Uniswap. The state registration preserves the firm’s option to submit a federal ETF filing later and is a common step made before seeking SEC approval.
The move follows the SEC’s February 2025 decision to close its investigation into Uniswap Labs, ending a probe into potential securities-law violations. The agency has since pulled back from at least 17 major crypto enforcement cases.
Kronos Research’s Vincent Liu called the filing a “placeholder step that preserves optionality” and said it suggests the firm is “positioning ahead” without implying “an active SEC review or a defined launch timeline.”
Tiger Research’s Ryan Yoon described the registration as “strategically bridges the regulatory clarity from the closed SEC investigation with a practical ETF launch.” He added, “While legal uncertainties have subsided, the approval process will now focus on verifying the protocol’s decentralization and actual liquidity.”
Analysts say custody, market structure, and on-protocol liquidity will drive any SEC review. Liu warned that “Custody relies on smart contracts, heightening operational risk,” and said the agency will examine “market integrity, manipulation risk, and the depth of on-protocol liquidity, including reliance on surveilled markets.”
Governance changes matter too; measures like the Fee Switch were proposed in November and approved a month later, which could affect revenue flows. Uniswap’s UNI token showed about $161 million in 24‑hour trading volume, while the protocol processed roughly $859 million in the same period, according to CoinGecko.
