Altcoin ETFs: The Next Wave

It's only been a few weeks since Donald Trump was confirmed as the next president of the United States. In that time, three new applications for altcoin ETFs have already been tabled to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Fresh off the 2024 US Presidential election results, which saw Republican candidate Donald Trump preparing to take office, financial markets are already shifting gears.

One of Trump's key campaign promises was installing a pro-crypto administration — a policy that has asset managers preparing for a wave of new crypto products.

The impact of spot crypto funds is already well-documented, with Bitcoin ETFs driving record-breaking volumes earlier this year. By unlocking new investment channels, traditional financial institutions have opened the crypto industry to a wider audience.

Now, prominent analysts Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart believe that a wave of spot ETF applications is coming for the SEC's mailbox.

The only question remains — which, if any, will see approval?

Altcoin ETFs: The Next Wave

It's only been a few weeks since Donald Trump was confirmed as the next president of the United States. In that time, three new applications for altcoin ETFs have already been tabled to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Unsurprisingly, a Solana fund was at the top of the pile, with Bitwise pushing forth a SOL trust alongside a fund providing exposure to both BTC and ETH.

However, the third ETF registration was a little more out of pocket. On the 12th of November, asset managers Canary Capital filed for a Hedera (HBAR) fund. At the time of writing, HBAR sits outside the top twenty cryptocurrencies by market cap.

The next 12 months could be carnage for the SEC, who may have to sift through thousands of pages related to spot crypto ETF filings.

Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas believes that, “barring [a] monster crash, it's about to get pretty wild for [crypto ETFs].”

Four Solanas, 3 XRPs, 2 conversions and a Litecoin in a pear tree.. nice look at the coming 'twelve months of alt coin ETFs' Barring monster crash, its about to get pretty wild for this young category. Don't be surprised if this list is triple in size by end of Jan via @JSeyffart pic.twitter.com/TxzLFT2BiX

The list of pending crypto ETFs, currently including several XRP, Solana and mixed-coin registrations, could “triple” as soon as January, according to Balchunas and colleague James Seyffart.

Also. @EricBalchunas and I are expecting this list to grow exponentially over the next ~year. Feels like deja vu a bit.

Just because an ETF has been filed doesn't mean it will be approved though, with Seyffart warning the industry that it might take a while before we see even the most likely ETF greenlit.

NEW: Covered Solana ETFs' likely approval in the next year or two under Trump's new SEC. *BUT* they could very easily fail to be acknowledged under this current SEC admin. They were functionally rejected that way in July/August when CBOE first filed on behalf of VanEck & 21Shares pic.twitter.com/PGqgDSojVh

Nevertheless, there is a palpable optimism among both die-hard crypto investors and the broader financial industry regarding the future of digital currency.

Of course, just as the community was about to celebrate Bitcoin's much-anticipated rise to US $100k, the kiss of death (aka Jim Cramer) had his way with the coin.

It really is amazing when you think about it, esp the dramatic timing at 99k, it was in the bag, could practically taste the champagne, like Brady stealing SB vs Atlanta. Stuff legends are made of.

Ah well. It's been a nice run.