Canary Spot Litecoin ETF steps closer to potential SEC approval 

The SEC has acknowledged Canary Capital’s Litecoin ETF filing. This could lead to the first altcoin ETF outside of Bitcoin and Ether being approved in 2025.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, under Acting Chairman Mark Uyeda, has acknowledged on Jan. 29 the Litecoin (LTC) ETF filed by Canary Capital. 

Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart confirmed on X that the SEC is currently reviewing the 19-4b application submitted by Nasdaq. A 19b-4 filing is a formal request from a self-regulatory organization, like Nasdaq, to the SEC to request rule changes, such as listing new financial products like a crypto ETF. 

Canary Capital filed for an LTC ETF on Jan. 16, with plans for the first altcoin ETF outside of Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH).  According to The Block, under Gary Gensler’s direction, the SEC allegedly told other companies trying to register for altcoins ETF to withdraw their applications, thus inhibiting their possibilities before the official review process. 

Now that Gensler is gone, the SEC has accepted the filing rather than rejecting or pressuring a withdrawal, thus guiding the official approval process for the first time. Up until today, the filing was awaiting the SEC’s formal acknowledgement.

While this is not a formal approval from the SEC, the LTC ETF is one step closer to possible approval. The SEC will now officially begin the review process. Before rendering a decision, the regulatory body will take into account market risks, investor protections, and other compliance with financial rules.

Eric Balchunas, Senior ETF Analyst at Bloomberg, says the SEC will open a public comment period, have several review phases to finish, and can approve, reject, or postpone the decision for up to a combined 240 days. He also notes that just the LTC ETF received the temporary acknowledgement on the ETF among all the other filings.  

ETFs are a collection of assets for sale on the stock market, similar to ordinary stock. Rather than buying individual assets — gold, Bitcoin, Litecoin, etc. — an ETF offers investors a fair share of a fund that owns these assets. Industry observers are anticipating this to be the first ETF approval in 2025, signaling a major change in what U.S. crypto investment products would look like throughout the year.