GDLC vs NCIQ

GDLCAGrayscale CoinDesk Crypto 5 ETF

NCIQAHashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index US ETF

In short

GDLC One ticker, five large liquid coins, market-cap weighted by the CoinDesk 5 Index. Grayscale's 2018-vintage basket predates the spot-crypto ETF crowd, and its fee now sits right at the middle of that pack.

NCIQ A passive basket of the digital assets in a Nasdaq index, run at 0.25% a year while the typical multi-coin crypto fund charges more than double that. It tracks the index and makes no attempt to beat it.

Stated mandate

GDLC The fund provides exposure to the market-cap-weighted performance of five large, liquid crypto assets, offering diversified access to the cryptocurrency market.

NCIQ The Trust seeks to match the daily price changes of its reference index, after expenses and liabilities, by investing in the index's digital-asset constituents. It uses a passive strategy and does not seek to outperform the index.

Why people hold it

• GDLC Five large, liquid coins in a single market-cap-weighted basket tracking the CoinDesk 5 Index. No exchange accounts, no wallets, no seed phrases.
• At 0.59% a year it lands at the median for multi-coin baskets, and far under the 2.50% Bitwise charges on BITW.
• Running since 2018, one of the longest histories among multi-coin crypto funds, and it stands in the upper half of that group.
• The mandate is literal: hold the index's five names at market-cap weight. No manager hunting the next winner.

• NCIQ Charges 0.25% a year, well under half the 0.59% median for multi-coin crypto baskets such as GDLC and KRYP.
• Narrow, literal mandate: match the daily moves of the Nasdaq CME Crypto Settlement Price Index after expenses, no outperformance attempt. It has hewed closely to that job.
• One ticker buys the whole index basket, so no exchange accounts, wallets or self-custody to manage.

Worth knowing

• GDLC Trades lightly for its category, so spreads can run wider than the headline crypto funds. Limit orders earn their keep here.
• Five coins at market-cap weight means the largest one carries most of the load. This is concentrated crypto exposure, and it moves like it.
• Cheaper doors to the same basket idea exist: EZPZ at 0.00% and NCIQ at 0.25%. And there is no income here, only coin prices.

• NCIQ Structured as a trust rather than a registered fund, so the protections investors get under the Investment Company Act do not apply here.
• Generally pays no cash distributions, so any return has to come from price moves alone.
• Crypto prices swing hard, and with a January 2025 launch the live track record is still short.

Full GDLC profile⁠

Full NCIQ profile⁠