Altcoins
|3 min ReadDogecoin climbs as U.S. DOGE ETF slips again
Maya Chen
Senior Analyst
Published
Jan 16, 2026
Price up while the ETF waits
Delays usually sink a trade. Not today. Dogecoin rose nearly 4 percent in the last 24 hours to $0.2603, according to CoinMarketCap data. The market shrugged. Buyers stepped in. That tells you where momentum sits.
A Sept. 8 SEC filing said the Rex-Osprey DOGE ETF, ticker DOJE, was expected to list Friday, Sept. 12, alongside Bonk, XRP, Bitcoin and Trump Official ETFs. Bloomberg’s Eric Balchunas said Thursday the listing is delayed again, likely to the middle of next week, probably Thursday. He learned of the delay from the issuer. No reason was given.
What the approval really is
Earlier this month DOJE won approval under the Investment Company Act of 1940. That framework is used for mutual funds and diversified ETFs. It is different from Bitcoin ETFs approved under the Securities Act of 1933, which governs commodity and asset-backed products. This DOGE product is not really spot. It does not hold DOGE directly. It uses a Cayman Islands subsidiary and derivatives because the 1940 Act requires diversification and limits single-asset exposure.
Balchunas expects the immediate price impact to be “minimal.” With Bitcoin, many investors needed an ETF to get access. With DOGE, most interested buyers already have exchange accounts. His line was blunt. “The further away you get from BTC, the less assets it will be.”
He still expects four to five Dogecoin ETFs to launch in October or November. More products. More distribution. That can move the needle.
Speculation and new demand
This approval looks unprecedented. Balchunas said on X that he is “pretty sure this is the first-ever US ETF to hold something that has no utility or purpose.” Link. Critics argue a memecoin fund institutionalizes speculation and charges fees users could avoid by buying DOGE directly. The debate will not stop the flows. It never does.
Institutional signals are blinking. CleanCore Solutions said it reached half of its 1 billion DOGE treasury target after buying $130 million in DOGE this week. The company had announced a $175 million private placement to acquire more DOGE and closed it on Sept. 5. Also this month, Trump family-linked media company Thumzup said it plans to acquire 3,500 Dogecoin mining rigs. Another thread: KuCoin targets 10 percent of Dogecoin mining capacity via a new mining platform.
The ETF listing slipped. Price rose anyway. Structure matters, but sentiment moves first. If more DOGE ETFs hit in the next two months, distribution widens. Liquidity deepens. Traders who waited will pay up. Traders who act set the terms.
Disclaimer: This document is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. The views expressed in this document are not, and should not be taken as, investment advice or recommendations. Recipients should do their own due diligence, taking into account their specific financial circumstances, investment objectives and risk tolerance, which are not considered here, before investing. This document is not an offer, or the solicitation of an offer, to buy or sell any of the assets mentioned.