The new Grayscale spot Dogecoin ETF didn’t kick off the way many people expected. Instead of a big, loud debut, it opened much softer than early predictions.
Here’s the quick picture:
GDOG traded $1.41 million on its first day. That’s way below the $11–12 million many analysts were expecting. The fund started with $1.71 million in net assets, 94,700 shares, and a 0% fee for the first three months.
The first-ever U.S. spot DOGE ETF
Grayscale’s new Dogecoin ETF (ticker: GDOG) opened on the NYSE Arca on November 24. It’s the first spot Dogecoin ETF available in the U.S., and it comes from converting Grayscale’s private Dogecoin Trust into a public product.
The idea behind GDOG is simple:
Investors can get exposure to real Dogecoin without needing to manage wallets, worry about storage, or deal with crypto exchanges. GDOG actually holds physical DOGE and tracks its real price. Coinbase Custody manages the tokens, and BNY handles fund administration. The ETF also uses a cash-based creation and redemption system.
At launch, GDOG held 11.1 million DOGE, spread across 94,700 shares. Each share represents 117.58 DOGE. For now, Grayscale is waiving all fees. After the free period or when the fund hits $1 billion in assets—whichever comes first—the fee becomes 0.35%.
A lot of hype, but a quiet start
Even though the ETF’s launch was a big moment for the DOGE community and the broader crypto world, the first day didn’t deliver the high trading numbers many expected. Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas had projected up to $10–12 million in day-one activity, but GDOG came in far below that.
Still, some people see this as a slow-but-steady start, not a failure. Meme-related assets don’t always see instant institutional action. They often grow over time as interest builds.
DOGE price still moved up
Even with the low ETF volume, Dogecoin itself got a small boost. The price moved up a bit, hovering around $0.152 after a 3–5% increase. Global DOGE trading—spot and derivatives—also hit $1.93 billion over 24 hours.
So while the ETF’s start was quiet, traders were clearly paying attention.
What’s next?
Grayscale isn’t slowing down. The company is already preparing for a Chainlink (LINK) ETF, which they say could help push forward tokenized real-world assets and cross-chain settlement. Their goal is to give everyday investors simple access to digital assets as the space keeps growing.
