Canary Capital has applied to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to list an exchange-traded fund based on the Bitcoin-inspired cryptocurrency Litecoin.
Canary Capital, a crypto-focused investment startup, has filed paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission to bring its Spotlight Coin (LTC) ETF to Wall Street trading terminals. The new asset management company launched by Valkyrie founder Steven McClurg has filed documents, including a Form S-1, marking the formal registration of the Spot LTC ETF securities.
Litecoin is one of the oldest blockchain assets and is often considered a derivative of Bitcoin (BTC). However, LTC is not an actual Bitcoin fork, but was built in 2011 as a lightweight version of BTC. Thirteen years later, LTC is trading at nearly $70 per coin and has a market cap of over $5.25 billion. The token ranked 27th among the top 100 cryptocurrencies by valuation.
24 Hour LTC Price Chart – October 15 | Source: crypto.news
Canary Capital is one of the first to enter the crypto ETF bidding scene. Last week, the investment firm joined Bitwise in bidding for a spot (XRP) ETF. On October 1, Canaray announced its first private fund focused on Hedera (HBAR), named the Canary HBAR Trust.
Crypto ETF filings have become a regular topic at the SEC since about 11 issuers won approval for spot Bitcoin funds in January. A Spot Ethereum (ETH) ETF followed in late July, sparking a ton of speculation about which cryptocurrency would be the next wrapper for an institutional ETF.
Solana (SOL) and Ripple’s native token have been cited as strong candidates for a crypto ETF following BTC and ETH. However, uncertainty remains regarding the SEC’s regulatory approach and its understanding of which tokens are subject to securities laws.
According to Fortune, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler told hedge funds in 2018 that Ethereum and Litecoin are not securities. This argument and LTC’s similarities to Bitcoin could make a spot LTC ETF more likely. But the SEC leadership, led by Gensler, remains largely skeptical of the crypto economy, and the product could face pushback from agency staff.
