Canary Capital files first-ever Litecoin ETF, LTC rises over 6%
Canary Capital has filed the world’s first Litecoin application with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The S-1 filing on October 15 was an important step toward expanding institutional access to digital asset investments. The company still needs to file a 19b-4 application, which is essential to gaining approval for exchange listing.
The proposed fund will directly hold Litecoin and determine its daily net asset value based on the CoinDesk Litecoin Price Index (LTX). Following this news, Litecoin (LTC) rose more than 9%, trading as low as $73. It is currently trading at $70.09, according to CoinMarketCap data.
But industry observers are more cautious, pointing to the Ethereum ETF’s underwhelming performance just a few days ago as a valid warning. In fact, the latest market data shows that, contrary to the strong inflows seen in Bitcoin ETFs, Ethereum ETFs are struggling to find their footing, with institutions against other crypto alternative investment options. This gives credibility to investors’ appetite.
Another challenge may be that Canary Capital is a relative newcomer to the ETF space. Although the company just applied for a Ripple (XRP) ETF on October 8th, it does not have the extensive track record in managing large-scale investment products that many institutional investors expect.
Despite these red flags, Litecoin’s regulatory status may ultimately be positive. For example, the path forward would have been smoother if the Commodity Futures Trading Commission had earlier classified Litecoin as a commodity in the complaint filed against KuCoin. This is in sharp contrast to the situation faced by Canary’s proposed XRP ETF amid ongoing legal complications between Ripple and the SEC.
