U.S. exchange Nasdaq has filed a Form 8-K with the SEC seeking to expand its crypto benchmark from 5 to 9 digital assets. The reconstituted Nasdaq Crypto US Settlement Price Index, aka NCIUS, will add Cardano (ADA), Solana (SOL), Stellar Lumens (XLM), and XRP Ledger (XRP) to the index, a filing submitted on June 2 showed. The other constituents of the index include: BTC, ETH, Chainlink (LINK), Litecoin (LTC), and Uniswap (UNI).
Strategic index expansion
If approved, the rule change would permit Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index US ETF to change its Benchmark Index from the NCIUS to the Nasdaq Crypto Index (NCI), a broader index that can include more digital assets. The proposed rule change is currently under review by the SEC, with a final decision expected on or before November 2, 2025.
However, the filing does mention that under the current regulatory restrictions, the index is only permitted to hold bitcoin and ether, and is not permitted to hold any of the new constituents yet, as it stands, the risk of potential tracking errors. The index will implement a sampling strategy for now, which will attempt to balance its holdings in bitcoin and ether to provide investors with price exposure to the index.
Change of Guard at Hashdex
The SEC filing also reveals a leadership change at Hashdex Asset Management Ltd., the sponsor of the Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index US ETF. It shows that as of June 2, 2025, Bruno Leonardo Kmita de Oliveira Passos, who served on the company’s Board of Directors, has resigned from his post. His resignation also means that he stepped down as the Principal Financial Officer and Principal Accounting Officer at the index.
Passos’s responsibilities will be taken over by Samir Elias Hachem Kerbage, who currently serves as the Chief Investment Officer at Hashdex and has been leading the firm’s investment strategy since 2018. The filing states that Mr. Passos’s departure was not due to any disagreement with the company regarding its operations or policies.