HBAR and Polkadot ETFs Face SEC Delay—What It Means for Crypto Investors

• According to filings published on Thursday, the SEC has postponed its decision on several proposed spot cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds.
• The SEC must decide by June 11 on Canary’s HBAR ETF and Grayscale’s Polkadot Trust conversion, while a decision on Bitwise’s BTC and ETH ETF is due by June 10.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has recently postponed its decisions on several cryptocurrency exchange-traded fund (ETF) proposals, including those for HBAR, the native currency of Hedera’s hashgraph distributed ledger, and Polkadot (DOT), along with a dual crypto fund focused on Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). The SEC now has until June 11 to approve or reject Nasdaq’s filings for the Canary HBAR ETF and the conversion of Grayscale’s Polkadot Trust into an ETF, extending its original decision deadline, which was set for the end of this week. 

“The Commission finds it appropriate to designate a longer period within which to take action on the proposed rule change, as modified by Amendment No. 1, so that it has sufficient time to consider the proposed rule change and the issues raised therein,” the SEC said in its announcement.

Canary Capital, an asset manager based in Australia, filed with the SEC to list its Canary HBAR ETF, which aims to provide investors with exposure to HBAR, the 16th-largest cryptocurrency with a market capitalization of $8.43 billion. Canary Capital has been quite busy in the crypto ETF space, having filed for a Tron (TRX) ETF with staking features, as well as filing proposals for Solana (SOL), Sui (SUI), and PENGU  ETFs.

In February, CNF reported that Nasdaq submitted Form 19b-4 to the SEC seeking approval to list and trade shares of Grayscale’s spot Polkadot ETF. In addition, 21Shares filed for a spot Polkadot ETF to list the 21Shares Polkadot Trust on the Cboe BZX Exchange.

Implications for Crypto Investors

During Gary Gensler’s tenure as the SEC chair, the agency approved the listing of Bitcoin ETFs in January 2024 and spot Ethereum ETFs later in July. With Donald Trump as the president and Paul Atkins as the new SEC chair, the SEC is shifting its stance on the crypto industry for the better. 

The approval of DOT and HBAR ETFs could offer increased legitimacy by providing a regulated investment vehicle for HBAR and DOT, potentially attracting institutional investors and enhancing market liquidity. Additionally, the ETFs will improve accessibility, allowing investors to gain exposure to HBAR and DOT without directly holding the cryptocurrencies, thus simplifying the investment process. However, cryptocurrency markets are inherently volatile, and the performance of HBAR and DOT could be influenced by factors beyond the approval of these ETFs. 

Currently, the tokens are in the green. HBAR has seen an 8.47% increase over the past 24 hours, trading at around $0.1997.

Meanwhile, DOT’s price has appreciated by 15.69% over the past week and by 4.99% over the past 24 hours.