Roundhill Investments is set to exit the European ETF market after announcing the closure of its metaverse ETF just 18 months after launching, ETF Stream can reveal.
The Round Ball Metaverse UCITS ETF (METV) will delist from the Deutsche Boerse on 30 November after gathering just €1.7m assets under management (AUM) since inception.
It is the US-based firm’s only ETF listed in Europe despite also having a sports betting and gaming ETF registered with the Central Bank of Ireland.
Tim Maloney, CIO of Roundhill Investments, told ETF Stream: "After careful consideration, we decided to refocus our distribution efforts back to our home market in the US, where we believe there are currently numerous opportunities for innovation.
"This fund closure is in no way an indication of a wavering belief in the metaverse, a theme we remain deeply committed to and where our US-listed Fund remains the largest in the world.
"Establishing a business presence in a new market is always a challenging proposition, and in this case we were unable to identify a model for growth that was sustainable despite the strong support from all of our partners on the initiative."
The firm launched the world’s first metaverse ETF in the US, tracking the same index as METV, which at one point housed $710m AUM.
Assets have since fallen to $413m, despite returning 34.5% this year, as at 18 October.
METV was the second metaverse ETF to list in Europe following the launch of the €7.5m ETC Group Global Metaverse UCITS ETF (METR) just five days earlier.
The metaverse theme has struggled to take off since a flurry of launches last year which saw Franklin Templeton, Fidelity, Legal and General Investment Management (LGIM) and BlackRock all enter the market.
The iShares Metaverse UCITS ETF (MTAV) is currently the largest ETF tracking the megatrend having launched in December, however, it has only amassed $19.1m in assets.
