Crypto.com and Canary Capital Launch a US Investment Fund Designed to Provide Exposure to the Cronos Blockchain's Native Token, CRO

The Canary CRO Trust will hold the Cronos CROUSD token in a regulated fund wrapper, Crypto.com said, adding that the trust is not an exchange-traded fund (ETF) and is only available to accredited investors.

Crypto.com is launching a US investment fund that will provide exposure to the Cronos blockchain’s native token, CRO, the cryptocurrency exchange said on Thursday.

The Canary CRO Trust will hold the Cronos CROUSD token in a regulated fund wrapper, and is being created in partnership with asset manager Canary Capital. The trust will not be an ETF and is only available to accredited investors, Crypto.com said.

"We are always looking for ways to provide our users with greater access to and choice within the Web3 ecosystem. As part of this commitment, we are pleased to announce the launch of Canary CRO Trust in the U.S., offering accredited investors a unique opportunity to invest in the Cronos ecosystem through a regulated vehicle," said president and chief operating officer Eric Anziani.

The move is part of Crypto.com’s broader plan for "further mainstreaming crypto," the statement read.

In March, the crypto exchange partnered with Trump Media & Technology Group to launch a series of Trump-branded ETFs, one of which will hold the CRO token.

The Trump Media ETFs are still pending approval from the US Securities and Exchange Commission, which has yet to authorize any CRO ETFs for US trading.

The Cronos ecosystem

Cronos is a layer-1 blockchain network that spun out of Crypto.com. The chain is designed to integrate with the Ethereum and Cosmos ecosystems and support decentralized finance applications, non-fungible tokens and other Web3 applications.

The chain has a total value locked of nearly $440 million, according to data from DefiLlama. Its most popular application is VVS Finance, a DeFi platform for token swaps and yield farming.

The CRO token has a market capitalization of roughly $880 million as of May 19, according to Cointelegraph’s market data.

Altcoin ETF filings

Since Trump took office in January, he has signaled a more crypto-friendly approach to regulation, prompting asset managers to seek to list roughly 70 new crypto ETFs.

In May, asset manager VanEck filed to list an ETF tied to another exchange-affiliated token, BNB Chain's native BNB. The chain is affiliated with Binance, the world's largest centralized exchange.

The same month, 21Shares launched an exchange-traded product in Europe offering exposure to Crypto.com's CRO token.