Rex Shares, Osprey Funds file to list MOVE ETF with SEC as Movement readies mainnet launch

Investment managers Rex Shares and Osprey Funds have filed the first application to list an exchange-traded fund tracking MOVE, the native token of the relatively new Ethereum Layer 2 network, Movement. This comes as the Movement teams readies a beta release of its mainnet. 

According to the prospectus filed on Monday, the fund would invest 80% of its net assets in MOVE tokens or related derivatives through a REX-OspreyTM MOVE Subsidiary.

"This filing represents a historic moment not just for Movement, but for the entire Move landscape," Movement co-founder Rushi Manche said in a statement. "Breaking the pattern of ETFs limited to long-established cryptocurrencies opens doors for institutional capital to support next-generation blockchain innovation."

Like other recently proposed ETFs tracking altcoins like XRP, SOL, and HEDERA, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will first have to acknowledge the filing before moving on to deciding whether to let it trade. ETF issuer Rex Shares and crypto asset manager Osprey Funds have previously filed to list funds tracking assets including BONK, DOGE and TRUMP, the official presidential memecoin.

Movement is an experimental blockchain built using the MoveOS programming language, which Meta developed in-house for its defunct Diem stablecoin project (originally called Libra). The development process has received some backlash from crypto industry participants, partly due to a lack of transparency.

The Movement Network Foundation announced the launch of the Movement Mainnet Beta on Nov. 30, though that testing network was not fully deployed until around Dec. 9. The team announced Remote Procedure Call (RPC) support for its testnet and mainnet networks on Saturday and previously hinted a full mainnet launch could happen as early as March 10. The so-called Movement Public Mainnet Beta, announced in the same press release as the ETF, will be seeded with $250 million from the ecosystem's "Cornucopia program."

“The first ever chain to have an ETF before a user. Revolutionary,” joked X user @andy8052 on Monday.

The Movement team has also drawn some backlash for its overt politicking, admittedly at a time when many projects are working to get in the good graces of the pro-crypto Trump administration. “Politics is the most important gtm [go to market] play for crypto companies today,” co-founder Rushi Manche wrote in a since-deleted post.

An unexpected Movement devnet launch in late January raised eyebrows after the World Liberty Financial DeFi startup associated with the Trump family purchased $2 million MOVE tokens approximately 10 minutes before reports surfaced that the Movement team had held conversations with DOGE head Elon Musk about potential blockchain integrations. Manche denied allegations of “insider trading” at the time.

The SEC, under the leadership of Acting Chair Mark T. Uyeda, has signaled a more accommodating approach towards the crypto industry but has yet to officially approve ETFs tracking crypto assets other than the two largest tokens, bitcoin and ether.