21Shares Seeks SEC Approval For Spot Polkadot ETF As Trump-Era Regulators Warm To Crypto

Following the influx of new crypto-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States, investment management firm 21Shares has submitted paperwork to launch a spot Polkadot ETF.

The 21Shares Polkadot ETF

On Friday, 21Shares filed an S-1 registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the 21Shares Polkadot Trust, which will track the performance of DOT, the native token of the Polkadot Network, and use the CME CF Polkadot-Dollar Reference Rate to monitor DOT prices. According to the statement, the ETF would trade on the Cboe BZX Exchange, and Coinbase Custody would serve as the custodian. 

DOT is the 24th largest digital coin by market cap, but it has witnessed lackluster price performance in recent times. Over the last 24 hours, its price has plunged 11.1%, and it’s down 25.6% in the past month, according to CoinGecko data.

The S-1 noted that there are no guarantees of DOT’s price, either in the short or long term, after the ETF goes live.

“There is no assurance that DOT will maintain its value in the long or intermediate term,” the filing read. In the event that the price of DOT declines, the Sponsor expects the value of the Shares to decline proportionately.”

According to Bloomberg’s ETF analyst James Seyffart, the market will in the end decide if there is demand for a spot DOT product.

“The market will decide where value lies and if there’s value in launching such a product. If no one puts money into a Polkadot ETF— it will close. People are free to launch whatever ETFs are deemed to be allowed by the SEC,” Seyffart explained in his Feb. 1 post on Twitter (aka X).

A Rush Of Crypto ETFs Hit SEC Amid Crypto-Friendly White House

21Shares’ filing comes as the SEC undergoes a shakeup, with pro-crypto Acting Chair Mark Uyeda replacing Gary Gensler, fueling industry hopes for approval under a President Trump administration. Trump promised pre-election to shore up US regulations while making the U.S. the “crypto capital of the planet.”

Gensler’s tenure, which started in April 2021, featured lawsuits against high-profile crypto companies like Coinbase and Binance and a heavy crackdown on unregistered securities offerings. His last day of work was January 20.

Over a dozen proposed crypto ETFs are awaiting a regulatory nod from the SEC. Besides 21Shares, other investment firms like Bitwise, Canary Capital, Grayscale, and WisdomTreeAsset have so far submitted a flurry of filings to list ETFs holding altcoins, including SOL, XRP, Dogecoin, Official Trump (TRUMP), and Litecoin, among others.

Notably, the securities regulator recently granted initial approval to Bitwise’s dual Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF, which would track the price of BTC and ETH in a single fund.