Reality Shares, Inc., a privately owned investment manager, on Thursday filed an application for the Reality Shares Nasdaq Blockchain Economy exchange-traded fund, a Blockchain ETF.

Blockchain technology allows digital currencies to be exchanged without the oversight of a central bank or government.

The Reality Shares fund "is designed to measure the returns of companies that are committing material resources to developing, researching, supporting, innovating or using blockchain technology for their proprietary use or for use by others," according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Blockchain and Bitcoin ETFs have been struggling to receive approval from the SEC this year.

To this point, fund management group VanEck applied to have the VanEck Vectors Bitcoin Strategy ETF approved but ultimately withdrew the application.

REX Shares, a Connecticut-based fund management group, also applied to launch Bitcoin ETFs, the REX Bitcoin Strategy ETF and REX Short Bitcoin Strategy ETF, but the firm has also withdrawn its request to the SEC.

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