21Shares Files S-1 Registration for Polkadot ETF With US SEC

Investment management firm 21Shares has filed its S-1 registration statement for the Polkadot ETF offering with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This DOT-focused fund marks one of the non-conventional crypto ETF applications filed with the regulator this week.

The 21Shares Polkadot ETF

According to the S-1 filing, 21Shares said the firm plans to list the Polkadot ETF on the Cboe BZX Exchange. The asset manager noted that the fund is a passive investment that does not seek to generate returns beyond tracking the price of DOT. Explaining this, 21Shares said this funds model means it will not speculatively sell DOT when the price is high and buy when it is low.

It informed prospective investors that it will not pursue its investment objectives through leverage or derivatives products. Having ruled out these measures, it said it would solely track DOT price as featured on the CME CF Polkadot-Dollar Reference Rate.

In addition to these updates, 21Shares said it will tap Coinbase Custody Trust Company, LLC as the custodian for the ETF product if approved. The asset manager highlighted the key technical strengths of Polkadot as part of the S-1 filing.

The asset manager described the protocol as an online, decentralized, distributed computing platform that operates on a peer-to-peer basis.

Polkadot ETF Is One Among Many

This 21Shares filing is the second time the firm is featured on the ETF front this week. As reported earlier, the Cboe exchange refiled its Solana 19b-4 application alongside those of VanEck, Canary Capital, and Bitwise.

Beyond 21Shares, the ETF scene is heating up at a very fast pace. Beyond XRP and Solana ETF filings, assets like Dogecoin, TRUMP, and BONK, among others, are also getting ETF filings.

Earlier, Grayscale filed for Dogecoin Trust with the US SEC. This Grayscale Dogecoin Trust is an institutional investor-focused product that might evolve into a full-fledged ETF later. Per the rate of filings, analysts believe issuers are testing the regulatory limits of American regulators.

Early Signs of US SEC Pivot

Since President Donald Trump’s inauguration, the crypto regulatory tides have changed. First, he appointed Mark Uyeda as acting Chairman of the US SEC. He also tapped Caroline Pham as the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chair.

Already, both have shown signs of readiness to court the crypto industry. Besides setting up the Crypto Task Force, Mark Uyeda’s SEC has greenlighted its first digital currency ETF product.

The Bitwise Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF bagged approval, setting a pace for other related offerings in the market. With this precedent, the speculation that most of the newly filed crypto ETF products will bag approval is high.