The first spot Dogecoin ETF, ticker DOJE, will debut in the US on 11 September, according to Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas.
Meme coin ETF era about to kick off it looks like with $DOJE slated for a Thursday launch, albeit under the 40 Act a la $SSK. There’s a big group of ’33 Act-ers waiting for SEC approval still. Pretty sure this is first-ever US ETF to hold something that has no utility on purpose pic.twitter.com/BIcpu1zR4o
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) September 9, 2025
“DOJE will be the first-of-its-kind American exchange-traded fund based on an asset that initially has no value,” he wrote.
The issuer of the Dogecoin ETF is REX Shares, which earlier introduced a Solana-based product with staking under the ticker SSK. The firm hinted at the possibility of a memecoin-focused fund as early as 3 September.
The REX-Osprey™ DOGE ETF, $DOJE, is coming soon!$DOJE will be the first ETF to deliver investors exposure to the performance of the iconic memecoin, Dogecoin $DOGE.
From REX-Osprey™, the team behind $SSK, the first SOL + Staking ETF.@OspreyFunds
Investing involves risk.… pic.twitter.com/2eVv2hI7cf
— REX Shares (@REXShares) September 3, 2025
Details
The Dogecoin ETF is not a conventional SEC-approved exchange-traded fund. The product is registered as a mutual fund under the U.S. Investment Company Act of 1940.
According to DL News, that law is a regulatory loophole that allows some approval requirements to be skirted. The setup enables trading to begin immediately but imposes significant constraints on marketing.
Securing approval under the Securities Act of 1933 is harder, but it opens the door to broad distribution. That is the route taken by spot bitcoin ETFs, which have attracted $114 billion since approval.
Jordan Jefferson, CEO of DogeOS, called the launch a watershed for the industry.
“Dogecoin was born as a joke, but Wall Street has finally recognized its power. ETF approval confirms that institutional investors see value in community, culture and accessibility. When pension funds invest in an asset with ironic origins, that is a landmark moment in financial history,” he noted.
He said institutional inflows would bring new liquidity and stability to the memecoin market.
At the same time, the SEC postponed a decision on Bitwise’s application for a similar ETF. The regulator said it needed “a longer period” to review the filing.
At the time of writing, Dogecoin trades at $0.24. Over the past 24 hours the memecoin has slipped 0.3%, but is up more than 11% on the week.
Balchunas also complained that the coin’s community criticized him for his comment about its “lack of value.”
The Doge people (what do you call them, Doge-rs?) are objecting to my “no utility” comment. But the coin was literally started by two guys as a joke. So what’s the utility? https://t.co/6YtQPnCOTx
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) September 9, 2025
“Representatives of the Doge community (what do you call them, Doge-rs?) objected to my comment about the ‘lack of utility’. But this coin was literally created by two guys as a joke. So what is its practical value?” he wrote.
As of late August, at the SEC were pending 92 applications to launch crypto ETFs.