Valkyrie Alumnus-founded Canary bids for spot Litecoin ETF 

Canary Capital has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to list an exchange-traded fund backed by the Bitcoin-inspired cryptocurrency Litecoin.

Crypto-focused investment startup Canary Capital has filed paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission to bring a spot Litecoin (LTC) ETF to Wall Street trading terminals. The new asset manager launched by Valkyrie founder Steven McClurg has filed documents, including a Form S-1, signaling the formal registration of securities for its spot LTC ETF.

Litecoin is one of the oldest blockchain assets and is often considered a branch of Bitcoin (BTC). However, LTC was created in 2011 as a lighter version of BTC rather than a true Bitcoin fork. Thirteen years later, LTC traded at almost $70 per coin and had 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 has jumped headfirst into the crypto ETF offering scene. Last week, the investment firm joined Bitwise in bidding for a spot (XRP) ETF. On October 1, Canaray announced the launch of its dedicated fund focused on Hedera (HBAR) and named Canary HBAR Trust.

Crypto ETF applications have become a regular topic at the SEC after 11 issuers received approval for spot Bitcoin funds in January. Spot Ethereum (ETH) ETFs followed in late July, sparking a mountain of speculation as to whether the cryptocurrency would next use institutional ETF wrapping.

Solana (SOL) and Ripple’s native token stand out as leading competitors for crypto ETF after BTC and ETH. However, the SEC’s regulatory approach and perception of which tokens fall under securities laws leads to uncertainty.

According to Fortune, SEC chairman Gary Gensler told hedge funds that Ethereum and Litecoin were not securities in 2018. This claim and LTC’s similarities to Bitcoin could increase the chances of a spot LTC ETF. However, SEC leadership under Gensler remains largely skeptical of the crypto economy, and the product may be received negatively by agency staff.