Canary Capital's application to launch a Litecoin ETF has been delayed at the Securities and Exchange Commission, who extended the approval period as they aim to determine if the fund has sufficient fraud safeguards.
The pause is the second such ruling on the filing from Canary, a Nashville-based asset manager aiming to launch its first ETFs, follows a delay in March. Canary, which has filed to issue seven ETFs tracking so-called alt-coins, including TRX, XRP and HBAR, filed its original Litecoin application in January.
The delay comes as dozens of applications for alt-coin ETFs hit the SEC, following President Donald Trump's promise of a more permissive approach to cryptocurrencies following the Biden administration's caution. More than 70 applications are being processed, according to Bloomberg Senior ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas, following last year's approval of nearly 20 exchange-traded funds that hold Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Litecoin Ranks, Price
Litecoin ranks as the No. 21 cryptocurrency by market capitalization, according to CoinMarketCap data. While it's swung wildly over the past year, the price has gained little.
The filing had been seen as a potential bellwether for the SEC's permissiveness toward ETFs tracking smaller cryptocurrencies since the swearing in of Paul Atkins late last month as the agency's new chairman. The delay may be a result of Atkins's newness in the role and nothing more, ETF Store President Nate Geraci wrote in an X post.
"Still think vast majority of existing crypto ETF filings will be approved before year-end, if not sooner," he wrote, saying that Atkins "has to get feet wet."
Another potential test of the SEC's attitude toward riskier ETF assets will be whether or not VanEck's recent application for the BNB coin is approved. BNB is the token of the network managed by Binance, which last year pleaded guilty to fraud. It's CEO, Changpeng Zhao, spent four months in prison over the charges last year.
