More tokens named in new crypto ETF proposals
This crypto fund issuer is “looking for the rising stars” to put into the ETF wrapper
Thomas Neveu/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks
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ETF issuers have, in recent months, plotted US products that would hold solana (SOL), XRP, litecoin (LTC) — even dogecoin (DOGE).
As the SEC mulls them, the pile keeps growing bigger.
We saw two new assets make it into such proposals Wednesday. Bitwise filed for an ETF that would hold Aptos (APT), while Canary Capital has plotted one focused on Axelar (AXL).
Developed by Meta’s Diem blockchain engineers, Aptos is a layer-1 blockchain that uses a smart contract programming language called Move.
Canary describes Axelar as a blockchain network that connects blockchains and financial infrastructure by offering interoperability and digital asset tokenization.
The market caps of APT and AXL hover around $3.6 billion and $400 million, respectively — a far cry from the others mentioned.
But size isn’t everything.
When investing in layer-1s, you’re searching for high-quality, differentiated technology, backed by a strong team, Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan told me in an email.
“That’s Aptos to a T,” he added. “You have sub-second transaction finality, heightened security against certain smart contract vulnerabilities and parallel processing that supports giant throughput — all backed by a team that traces its origins to Diem.”
And why does Axelar stand out to Canary?
“I speak to developers a lot, and the dev team at Axelar is one of the most impressive I have met,” Canary CEO Steven McClurg shared with me. “Most projects build a community and market their coin before launching, but Axelar built real products and shipped [them] first.”
Bitwise also has filings for crypto ETFs holding SOL, XRP and DOGE. Canary has planned SOL and XRP products too — as well as ones focused on LTC and HBAR.
Some investors won’t want to hold a bunch of single-asset crypto ETFs, Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley said last week. They could instead opt for crypto index funds (some early forms of those are live).
Remember the odds the Bloomberg Intelligence guys gave for product approvals in this space? McClurg said he expects only two or three new crypto ETFs to launch in the first half of the year, not specifying which.
He added: “We are looking for the rising stars to put on the slate for the end of the year and into 2026.”
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