“Competition for them has never been fiercer. In a way similar to ‘cybersquatting,’ we can see market participants constantly grabbing tickers, especially as certain sectors or themes become more crowded.”

Those were comments by Gavin Filmore, chief revenue officer of white-label firm Tidal Financial Group, to Bloomberg, addressing the accelerating depletion of ticker symbols for use by ETFs on U.S. markets. 

As a new article notes, securing a catchy ticker for ETFs has now become a “high-stakes” challenge in the $10 trillion market, especially for funds tracking individual stocks.

With US exchanges allowing only four-character tickers, the potential combinations are vast—456,976 in theory, according to Bloomberg. But for single-stock ETFs, the options shrink drastically since the ticker must incorporate the stock symbol it’s based on.

One example is MSTR-related ETFs, where MST- should be in subsequent ETFs to identify them (since MS is taken), leaving just 52 choices – placing 1 of 26 letters before or after the ‘MST’. 

The Bloomberg report says that in the crowded ETF space, a snappy ticker is more than just branding—it can lead to lower spreads and better liquidity. That’s why issuers are scrambling to secure unique symbols, sometimes resorting to hoarding, as the competition heats up.

Matthew Tuttle, chief executive officer of Tuttle Capital and most famous for his SARK anti-Cathie Wood ETF, told Bloomberg: “There are guys who are going to stockpile symbols — maybe me, for example — and on the good names, you are potentially going to run into an issue.”

“You also really want like the ‘U’ or something like it for the bull, and a way to discern between the bull and the bear if you do both sides,” he added. 

Will Rhind, CEO of GraniteShares, says it’s getting tougher to secure tickers for single-stock ETFs as exchanges increasingly reject their requests due to reserved or delisted symbols. Some believe expanding the character limit could offer issuers more flexibility, as four-letter tickers have dominated new ETF launches for nearly 15 years, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.

But that doesn’t seem to be in NASDAQ’s plans. 

“I don’t think there are any concerns today around a ticker shortage. We do occasionally get questions from companies saying, hey, how can I get more creative on these tickers? Can I include numbers in addition to letters?” said Jeff Thomas, its chief revenue officer and global head of listings.

Rhind concluded, talking about the idea of adding numbers to tickers: “I personally think that would be a good addition. Certainly for leveraged products, that makes all the difference in the world. All our products in Europe follow that naming architecture, so I think that does help and would add some additional breathing space for people who find it difficult to find tickers.”