Asset managers are lining up to launch cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds, capitalizing on growing excitement around digital assets while getting a boost from looser regulatory requirements to bring products to market.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s updated standards for ETFs, announced last week, could encourage demand for exchange-traded products tied to cryptocurrencies ranging from solana to dogecoin.
ETFs around the more traditional cryptocurrencies bitcoin and ethereum were launched in 2024 under prior rules that had stricter standards for issuers and exchanges.
There are 21 U.S. ETFs that own either bitcoin or ethereum, or a combination of both, and scores of filings with the SEC for new products tied to other coins.
Since the SEC first unveiled the proposed new listing standards in July, firms have scrambled to update their new product filings and respond to specific comments and questions from the SEC.
Analysts said they expect the first products approved under the new rules – likely ETFs tied to cryptocurrencies solana and XRP – to debut in early October.
The vote last week by the SEC to adopt new listing standards eliminates the need for individual regulatory review of each crypto ETF application, allowing products that meet predetermined standards to launch without a lengthy case-by-case approval process. That will slash the approval time for new crypto products to 75 days or less, from up to 270 days previously, industry sources said.
The fourth quarter of 2025 is shaping up as boom time for crypto ETF issuers, said Jonathan Groth, a partner at DGIM Law.
