21Shares, a prominent investment management firm in the cryptocurrency space, has officially filed an S-1 registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a new Polkadot-focused exchange-traded fund.
Notably, this move marks an important step in the firm’s strategy to broaden its crypto offerings in the U.S. market. Most notably, Ether ETF and Solana ETF.
It is worth mentioning that this is the second DOT-centric fund to be introduced this week after renowned Tuttle Capital’s filed for XRP , Cardano, Solana, Litecoin, Chainlink, Trump, Melania, Bonk, and Polkadot.
The 21Shares Polkadot ETF aims to list its shares on the Cboe BZX Exchange, aligning with the firm’s strategy to offer a passive investment vehicle that mirrors the performance of Polkadot’s native token, DOT.
Unlike more actively managed funds, this ETF has managed to follow a diferent path. Instead, the fund’s objective is simple: track the price of DOT as closely as possible.
To achieve this, 21Shares will not use leverage, derivatives, or engage in active trading. The fund will strictly follow the price of DOT, using the CME CF Polkadot-Dollar Reference Rate as its benchmark.
This ensures that the ETF remains a straightforward, passive option for investors looking to gain exposure to Polkadot without any of the additional risks associated with more speculative investment methods.
This filing is part of a broader trend of growing institutional interest in cryptocurrency ETFs since Pro crypto Donald Trump was re-elected as the 47th President of the U.S., with 21Shares at the forefront.
As ETHNEWS earlier reported this week, the Cboe exchange refiled its application for a Solana ETF, following similar filings from firms like VanEck and Bitwise. However, the focus on Polkadot remains a significant development, especially considering the unique features of the blockchain, which aims to enable interoperability between various blockchains and foster decentralized applications.
In addition to the filing from 21Shares, there was a notable development from Tuttle Capital Management. Earlier this week, Tuttle filed for a leveraged 2x Polkadot ETF, one of several crypto ETFs in a broader application for 10 leveraged products.
However, the firm has since withdrawn its filing for these leveraged funds, which typically happens when regulators signal concerns over such high-risk investment vehicles.
Meanwhile, Polkadot’s native token, DOT, saw a modest surge in value in response to the ETF filing. The price of DOT rose by approximately 4%, peaking to $6.43, with its market cap now standing at $9.4 billion.
Its worth mentioning that DOT’s price is still 88% below its peak from November 2021, when it attained a significant milestone of $55.
21Shares’ latest ETF filing adds to its already established presence in the crypto ETF space, following its previous attempts to launch funds focused on Solana and XRP earlier in 2024.
