Bitwise has officially submitted a registration filing for a dogecoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) as memecoin demand grows within the market.

A “Bitwise Dogecoin ETF” was submitted late Wednesday and appeared on the Department of State’s Division of Corporations in the U.S. state of Delaware. Such filings may often be a spoof, but Bitwise confirmed the registration in a message to The Block.

https://x.com/EricBalchunas/status/1882202309293433217

That came on the back of investment managers Rex Shares and Osprey Funds filing paperwork for several crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs), including one for dogecoin.

An ETF approval by regulatory bodies like the SEC would provide dogecoin with institutional validation, potentially attracting more conservative investors to the memecoin. Increased demand could drive up DOGE prices if the product captures even a small fraction of the inflows seen by bitcoin ETFs (over $50 billion in the past year).

DOGE is the world’s largest memecoin with a market capitalization of $52 billion as of Thursday. It has more than tripled in the past year as a speculative token that follows bitcoin’s gains and, more recently, the creation of a Department of Government Efficiency in the U.S.

Abbreviated D.O.G.E, the non-governmental agency is led by technocrat Elon Musk and aims to reduce government spending while streamlining Federal worker operations. It was first proposed in mid-October and officially acknowledged during Donald Trump’s swearing-in ceremony on Monday.

D.O.G.E’s website briefly displayed a dogecoin token logo on Tuesday, which was later updated to display just its name. Still, the apparent connection to the memecoin has spurred demand among traders, who may use DOGE as a bet on the work the D.O.G.E agency does.