21Shares: “Crypto ETFs shifting toward active strategies…market structure changing”

Digital asset manager 21Shares said the crypto ETF market is being reshaped around active strategies.

According to Cointelegraph on the 24th (local time), 21Shares President Duncan Moir said in an interview, “Digital assets are an asset class in the early stages of growth, and the structure is better suited to active management.”

Until now, the crypto ETF market has been centered on passive products that track the prices of Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) as-is. Passive ETFs are designed to mirror the movement of a specific asset or index, with minimal manager intervention.

Active ETFs, by contrast, adjust asset weightings depending on market conditions and manage portfolios strategically to seek excess returns. The view is spreading that as the market enters a more mature phase, simple price tracking alone makes differentiation difficult.

21Shares said it manages portfolios by combining bottom-up research based on analysis of individual assets with top-down strategies that reflect the macro environment, and has expanded its trading and asset-management staff to support this.

The global active ETF market totals about $1.8 trillion as of 2025. Crypto ETFs are also broadening into more complex products—such as staking and yield-oriented structures—driving a larger share of active strategies.

In practice, Grayscale added a staking feature to its Ethereum ETF, and BlackRock launched an Ethereum product that incorporates staking. The product recorded about $15.5 million in trading volume on its first day.

Differences are also emerging by region. In the United States, demand continues to center on Bitcoin and Ethereum, while in Europe, demand is expanding—led by institutional investors—for investment in new assets and the application layer.

21Shares said that when launching future products, it plans to expand both single-asset and thematic offerings in parallel, taking a comprehensive view of internal research, client demand, and market trends.