New ETF proposal bets Bitcoin returns are made after hours

cointelegraphPublished on 2025-12-09Last updated on 2025-12-09

Abstract

A new ETF proposal from Tidal Trust, in partnership with Nicholas Wealth Management, aims to capture Bitcoin's after-hours price movements. The Nicholas Bitcoin and Treasuries AfterDark ETF would buy Bitcoin at the U.S. market close and sell around the open, holding it overnight. During the day, the fund would invest in U.S. Treasuries and cash equivalents to avoid daytime volatility. The strategy is based on analysis showing significant Bitcoin gains occur outside regular trading hours. The filing is pending SEC review. Separately, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs saw record outflows of $4 billion in November.

A new regulatory filing by Tidal Trust has proposed listing and trading an exchange-traded fund that will hodl Bitcoin during off-market hours.

In a Tuesday filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Tidal Trust II filed a Form N-1A registration statement to add two Nicholas Wealth Management ETFs tied to Bitcoin (BTC) to its existing fund.

The offerings, which included the Nicholas Bitcoin and Treasuries AfterDark ETF, would only buy BTC when US market trading hours began and sell it at closing, effectively hodling through the night.

“When utilizing Bitcoin Futures, the Fund trades these instruments during US overnight hours and closes them out shortly after the US market opens each trading day,” said the SEC filing. “When utilizing Bitcoin Underlying Funds, the Fund purchases a security at US market close, and then sells the position around US market open, thereby capturing any market movement that occurred during US overnight hours.”

*Tuesday SEC filing for ‘AfterDark’ Bitcoin ETF. Source:* *SEC*

The asset management company said that the ETF would allocate its assets to “US Treasuries, money market funds and other cash equivalents” during daytime hours. Such an investment strategy would effectively allow traders to avoid dealing with some of the potential price volatility with indirect exposure to Bitcoin.

“We looked at this last year and found most of the gains are in fact after hours,” said ETF analyst Eric Balchunas in response to the filing. “Doesn’t mean the ETFs aren’t having impact. Some of this is positioning [because] of the ETFs etc or derivatives based on flows etc etc. But yeah, Bitcoin After Dark ETF could put up better [returns].”

Related: Bitcoin’s back above $94K: Is the BTC bull run back on?

The filing does not guarantee approval by the SEC and may be subject to change. The regulator has given the green light to many crypto-tied investment vehicles, including Bitcoin and Ether (ETH) futures ETFs, spot digital asset ETFs, and staked crypto ETFs.

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Spot Bitcoin ETFs listed on US exchanges hit record outflows in November, with about $4 billion withdrawn. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust and Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund led the redemptions as two of the largest ETFs on the market.

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