Crypto ETF filings multiply ahead of SEC index fund decision
Last week’s solana ETF amendments points to “some sort of push from the SEC to get things organized,” a person familiar tells Blockworks.
Mark Van Scyoc/Shutterstock and Adobe modified by Blockworks
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I enjoyed my time off, but it’s always nice to be back in the loop.
A lot happened on the crypto ETF front while I was away. And perhaps you forgot we’re approaching a very important SEC deadline.
But first, checking up on ETF filings — as one does first thing after returning from abroad — I came across Yorkville America Digital’s latest proposal. That would be a Truth Social-branded ETF that this time would hold both BTC and ETH.
Yorkville finalized a partnership with Truth Social parent company Trump Media and Technology Group in April and previously signaled its plan to launch a bitcoin ETF.
CoinShares, meanwhile, joined the spot solana ETF race, becoming the eighth issuer to do so. The firm declined to comment.
Those filings come after the SEC engaged with issuers about spot SOL products and the subsequent S-1 amendments. You likely saw that covered in Blockworks last week.
A person familiar with the amendments told me today that the exact timeline of an SEC ruling on the solana products remains unknown. But “a flurry of filings” is typically “the best sign” that products are close to approval, the source noted, adding the latest S-1s point to “some sort of push from the SEC to get things organized.”
While those proposal adjustments dealt with the single-asset funds (complete with staking language), let us not forget about crypto index ETFs.
We should know by July 2 whether the SEC is letting the Grayscale Digital Large Cap Fund (GDLC) convert to an ETF. That fund’s holdings are below:
Bloomberg Intelligence analysts expect the agency to let GDLC — and the Bitwise 10 Crypto Index Fund (BITW) — become ETFs.
“Having only small allocations to alternative coins might help their ETF conversion bids even if the SEC hasn’t individually approved each asset for an ETF wrapper,” James Seyffart and Eric Balchunas wrote in a note last week.
Samir Kerbage, CIO of Brazil-based asset manager Hashdex, shared a similar sentiment when we spoke last month. The company filed to allow its existing Nasdaq Crypto Index US ETF (NCIQ) to hold tokens beyond BTC and ETH — like SOL, XRP and others.
Kerbage told me today that he views the solana ETF S-1 amendments as “a positive development toward approving broader crypto index ETF proposals — as BTC, ETH and SOL, combined, constitute more than 90% of the Nasdaq Crypto Index.”
To be clear, the person familiar with the latest ETF filings views the S-1 amendments and upcoming crypto index product deadline as two distinct things.
Still, some think the SEC greenlighting crypto index ETFs could open the floodgates. Take this June 10 X post by Van Buren Capital general partner Scott Johnsson, for example, which appears to allude to the July 2 deadline.
He noted last month that because the index products have a more undefined universe of allocations, the SEC would theoretically adopt a general rule vs. a case-by-case rule application.
“Once the index products are (hopefully) cleared, it should be a simple application of the general rule to the single asset spot products,” Johnsson added at the time.
We’ll be watching this very closely over the next two weeks.
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