State Street Global Advisors and Galaxy Asset Management said they are working together to build crypto products that offer exposure to crypto companies as well as spot and futures-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

State Street Global Advisors, a unit of financial services giant State Street (STT), filed an application with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to register a crypto-based fund called the SSGA Active Trust. Galaxy will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the fund’s investments, according to the filing. The company is affiliated with Galaxy Digital (GLXY), a financial services company that specializes in digital assets.

Together, the companies "will provide investors access to the $2.4 trillion digital asset ecosystem through manager-directed strategies," the companies said in a statement.

While the cryptocurrency industry has gained greater recognition since the U.S. approval of spot bitcoin ETFs in January, "investors are also seeking exposure to this growing asset class through investment options beyond pure spot bitcoin," they said.

“We believe that the digital assets landscape is so much more than the single crypto components and that crypto native companies are best equipped to understand that ecosystem and its correlation with financial markets,” Anna Paglia, State Street Global Advisors chief business officer said in the statement.

State Street and Galaxy's latest effort is a testament to crypto's growing popularity as an asset class. In April 2023, Galaxy Digital established a similar partnership in place with DWS to develop crypto management solutions for Europe.

"The expectation is that State Street Bank and Trust would provide administrative and accounting services for the new digital assets ETFs that State Street Global Advisors and Galaxy jointly develop pursuant to this collaboration. The announcement appears short on detail," said Laurent Kssis, crypto ETF specialist at CEC Capital.

Galaxy participated in a 2021 funding round for the Bullish group, which two years later acquired CoinDesk.

UPDATE (July 15, 2024, 19:18 UTC): Adds disclosure of Galaxy's past connection to CoinDesk's parent.