With the change in the US administration and the entrance of crypto-friendly players in key offices, companies are back into the ETF game. Cboe BZX Exchange is once again trying to gain approval for Solana ETFs on behalf of four issuers. At the same time, Bitwise submitted its application to the SEC to launch a spot Dogecoin ETF.
Cboe BZX Exchange Resubmits Filings for Four Asset Managers
The Cboe BZX Exchange has officially resubmitted 19b-4 filings to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on behalf of four asset managers that aim to list a spot Solana exchange-traded fund (ETF) in this country.
The four issuers are Bitwise, VanEck, 21Shares, and Canary Capital. This 28 January filing is not the first attempt to get the approval. The first application was rejected in December last year.
UPDATE: @CBOE just re-filed all of their Solana ETF 19b-4s for @vaneck_us, @CanaryFunds, @BitwiseInvest & @21Shares pic.twitter.com/CUogAWBl6u
— James Seyffart (@JSeyff) January 28, 2025
At the time, according to reports, the SEC refused to issue new ETFs under President Joe Biden’s administration.
The tables have very much turned since then. Just days ago, Donald Trump entered the White House as a crypto-friendly president, as he claims to be.
Furthermore, one of the industry’s biggest enemies, former SEC Chair Gary Gensler, left the agency with the change of administration, while Trump named crypto-friendly Mark T. Uyeda as Acting Chairman of the SEC.
That’s not all. Uyeda announced the formation of a new task fork, with crypto advocate Commissioner Hester Peirce taking the lead. The task force will focus on developing a comprehensive and clear regulatory cryptoasset framework.
All of this makes for fertile ground for new ETFs to be approved. Not only that, but it may open the door for numerous industry sectors to flourish, including meme coins, NFTs, RWAs, DeFi, DePIN, AI, and more, as well as to promote the best ICOs available to the public, thus enabling them to enter the crypto market.
Solana ETF would be only the third crypto with an approved spot ETF product on US stock exchanges, besides Bitcoin and Ethereum.
However, it may not be the last, as XRP, Litecoin, Dogecoin, and others have entered the arena with their own applications.
Read more: Bitcoin ETFs See $1.9BN in Capital Inflows as BTC Rose by 12% in the Past 7 Days
Bitwise Files Spot DOGE ETF with US SEC
Digital asset manager Bitwise has had more news to share over the past day. It has officially submitted an S-1 registration application to the SEC to launch a spot Dogecoin ETF.
This is not a surprise as the company submitted registration documents on 22 January.
However, Eric Balchunas, Senior ETF analyst for Bloomberg, argued that Bitwise’s filing is unique compared to other meme coin ETF filings.
This is the first ‘33 Act Doge filing, he said, while “Rex has on e filed under 40 Act but that isn’t the same true blue physically backed structure.”
Balchunas is referring to investment managers Rex Shares and Osprey Funds, which applied to launch seven new crypto ETFs, one of them being DOGE.
Also, he is saying that there are key differences between “ETFs structured as regulated investment companies under the 1940 Investment Act and those set up as 1933 Securities Act funds.” Most ETFs are ’40 Act funds. ’33 Act ETFs are tax-friendlier but involve paperwork and are seen as riskier, VettaFi says.
Notably, Dogecoin is the 8th crypto by market cap, currently standing at $48.15 billion. At the time of writing, it’s trading at $0.3254.
DOGE, 1-month price chart:
Source: CoinGecko
Meanwhile, the SEC approved the first 11 Bitcoin spot ETFs in January 2024, while Bitcoin futures ETFs were already trading on Cboe since 2021. The SEC has also approved eight spot Ethereum ETFs since.
And many more companies are entering the ETF sphere. Tuttle Capital Management filed applications recently for ten leveraged ETFs, including meme coins, but it soon withdrew several of them, according to Balchunas.
Tuttle withdrew the filing for the 2x Melania, Trump etc ETFs. Typically this happens when the regulators call the issuer and are like, 'c'mon'. This is why it's notable the Trump, Doge filing from Rex *hasn't* been withdrawn. Some early signs of where line may be for SEC. pic.twitter.com/GAmZQfLrIK
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) January 28, 2025
“To be very clear here. This is a case of issuers testing the limits of what this SEC is going to allow. I’m expecting the new crypto task force (led by Hester Peirce) to likely be the lynchpin in determining what’s gonna be allowed vs what isn’t,” added James Seyffart, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.
Additionally, Osprey Funds recently said it would convert its Osprey Bitcoin Trust (OBTC) into a spot Bitcoin ETF. This follows a failed acquisition deal with Bitwise.
Read more: Best Dog Meme Coins to Buy in 2025 – Dog Coins List
