Canary Capital, Bitwise to launch first US altcoin ETFs despite shutdown

By Suzanne McGee

(Reuters) -Canary Capital plans to launch the first U.S. exchange-traded products tied to the litecoin and hedera cryptocurrencies on Tuesday, the firm told Reuters, forging ahead despite a government shutdown that has hobbled the U.S. securities regulator.

Separately, Bitwise Asset Management said it will launch its own new cryptocurrency ETF, tied to solana, on Tuesday.

The launches test a recently streamlined approval process, potentially paving the way for a wave of new cryptocurrency products to come to market without lengthy, product-specific reviews.

"We've had several interactions with the SEC" on both filings over the last year, Steven McClurg, Canary's founder and CEO, told Reuters. "We were very much ready to go" before the shutdown.

Canary is relying on the mid-September vote by SEC commissioners allowing three national securities exchanges to adopt generic listing standards for cryptocurrency and other commodity exchange-traded products. That vote removed the last obstacle for asset managers hoping to launch dozens of new spot funds tied to an array of cryptocurrencies.

SEC officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Previously, new spot crypto ETFs, such as the bitcoin funds launched in January 2024, had to undergo lengthy, product-specific reviews by two different groups of SEC staffers. The new rules enable crypto asset managers to launch products as long as they meet certain criteria.

McClurg added that Canary will not launch all of its filed crypto products at once, but will roll out additional products in the coming weeks and months.

While the firm is comfortable with launching the litecoin and hedera offerings, based on the extent and nature of pre-shutdown discussions with the SEC, "There are a lot of filings we've still got out there that we don't have that level of comfort with."

Together with a 2019 rule designed to streamline the ETF listing process, "the standardized listings give the whole industry plenty of room" to roll out these new products, said Dave Nadig, head of research at ETF.com.

(Reporting by Suzanne McGee; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)