NYSE Arca’s filing for a spot Cardano exchange-traded fund has been acknowledged by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
According to a Feb. 24 notice from the regulator, it has formally acknowledged the proposal to list and trade shares of the Grayscale Cardano Trust under NYSE Arca Rule 8.201-E. This kicks off the review process, where the SEC will eventually decide whether to approve or reject the ETF.
From here on, a 240-day review window begins once the filing is published in the Federal Register, which usually happens within a few days of the SEC’s acknowledgement.
NYSE Arca initially filed the proposal through a 19b-4 form earlier this month, marking the 60th crypto ETF filing so far this year. The filing serves as a formal request for a rule change, after which it must secure an S-1 registration statement before it can begin trading.
If approved, the Grayscale Cardano Trust will give investors exposure to Cardano (ADA) without having to directly hold the asset. Instead, investors would buy shares of the trust, with the price tied to an index tracking ADA’s value across major exchanges like Coinbase, Kraken, Crypto.com, and Bitfinex.
Interestingly, despite Bitfinex not holding any US licenses, it was still included in the index as it met liquidity requirements.
Coinbase Custody Trust Company would handle the safekeeping of the fund’s assets, while BNY Mellon would serve as the transfer agent and administrator.
ADA has failed to react to the latest development and was down over 8% when writing. In contrast, when Grayscale initially filed the 19b-4, the altcoin shot up 11%.
Meanwhile, the odds of the SEC approving a Cardano ETF in 2025 have risen by over 10% in the past day on Polymarket, currently reflecting a 65% chance of approval.
With crypto-friendly leadership within the SEC, the industry is hopeful that the commission would be more open towards approving digital asset investment products.
This acknowledgement of Grayscale’s Cardano ETF filing is just the latest in a series of similar moves by the SEC in recent weeks. In February alone, the commission formally recognized multiple crypto ETF filings across a range of assets.
Just days before, the SEC acknowledged a 19b-4 filing from 21Shares via the Cboe BZX Exchange, aiming to allow the staking of Ethereum within its ETF. If approved, this would mark the first instance of an Ethereum ETF offering staking rewards to US investors.
Filings for Litecoin (LTC) and XRP spot ETFs from CoinShares were also officially acknowledged, alongside Grayscale’s proposal for a spot XRP and Dogecoin ETF.
Grayscale also revised its application for a Solana (SOL) spot ETF, which was acknowledged by the SEC on Feb. 6.
