T. Rowe Price, the 87-year-old investment firm known for its mutual funds, is getting into crypto.
On Wednesday, the company filed a Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch the T. Rowe Price Active Crypto ETF.
The S-1 is a key regulatory filing that signals a company’s intent to list a new product, often used in advance of a public offering. In this case, the ETF would offer investors active exposure to digital assets, a notable change for a company that manages more than $1.8 trillion, largely through conservative investment vehicles like mutual funds.
“I didn’t expect it, but I understand. There’s going to be a land rush for this space too,” Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, said in an article on X.
But T. Rowe Price has been signaling interest in crypto for some time. At an ETF conference in Las Vegas earlier this year, Dominic Rizzo, who manages the company’s technology-focused ETF, said now is the right time to consider exposure to bitcoin. He likened the price of cryptocurrency to that of a commodity, saying it closely tracks the cost of mining it.
If approved, the fund would join a growing list of crypto-related ETFs trying to capture investor demand without offering direct coin ownership. The active approach can also give fund managers more flexibility to navigate volatile markets.