Canary Capital plots litecoin ETF just days after XRP proposal
Industry watchers have said planned products focused on crypto assets outside of BTC and ETH could face regulatory hurdles in the near-term
Oranje Travel/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks
Canary Capital has revealed plans to launch a litecoin-focused product just one week after filing for an ETF that would directly hold Ripple’s XRP token.
The asset manager’s proposed Canary Litecoin ETF would “hold LTC and establish its net asset value on each business day by reference to the CoinDesk Litecoin Price Index,” the Tuesday filing notes.
Litecoin turned 13 years old on Sunday. LTC’s market capitalization stands at nearly $5.3 billion — the 27th-highest among crypto tokens, according to CoinGecko data.
“As one of the longest-running blockchains with 100% uptime since its inception, litecoin has demonstrated a proven track record of security and reliability with significant enterprise-grade use cases,” a Canary spokesperson said in an email. “With its strong foundation, litecoin continues to play a leading role in the broader cryptocurrency ecosystem, which Canary believes could make it attractive to a wider range of institutional investors.”
The latest litecoin ETF proposal follows Canary’s filing to launch a ripple (XRP) offering. Fellow fund firm Bitwise revealed plans for a similar XRP product just days earlier.
Read more: Election outcome and SEC appeal to decide XRP ETF future
Those XRP filings come after filings from VanEck and 21Shares to launch ETFs that would hold solana (SOL) directly.
The Securities and Exchange Commission would have to approve these proposals before the ETF could launch — a process that typically takes months.
Though the US regulator approved spot bitcoin and ether ETFs in January and July, respectively, industry watchers have said planned products focused on crypto assets outside of BTC and ETH could face hurdles in the near-term.
Read more: The XRP ETF filing: A sign of regulatory progress or wishful thinking?
The SEC, for example, has historically wanted to first see a regulated futures market for a spot crypto ETF’s underlying asset — like those for bitcoin and ether. None exist for LTC, XRP or SOL.
Still, a Canary Capital spokesperson told Blockworks earlier this month that there are “encouraging signs of a more flexible regulatory environment.”
“This year’s approval of the spot Ethereum ETFs, following the earlier spot bitcoin ETF approvals, signals positive momentum, especially considering how long it took for ETH futures products to be approved,” the representative added. “We’re optimistic about the next phase of developments in the space.”
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