Nasdaq filed a Form 19b-4 on January 16 to list and trade Canary Capital’s registered spot Litecoin (LTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF). Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas sees this as the first altcoin-related ETF approval in 2025.
Following an update in the S-1 form filed by Canary, Balchunas stated that his Litecoin ETF “checked all the boxes.” He added:
“I also don’t see any reason why this would be withdrawn, considering SEC commented on the S-1, Litecoin is considered a commodity and there is a new SEC sheriff in town.”
Earlier on January 16, Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart said marked that the change on the S-1 form did not guarantee approval. Still, it is a sign that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is looking into the matter.
After the Nasdaq news, Seyffart declared that it may take a few weeks for approval chances to be confirmed as the SEC has yet to recognize the Litecoin ETF application.
He added that while recent Solana (SOL) filings were not recognized, a Litecoin ETF could more likely catch the regulator’s attention. Seyffart reasoned that LTC is not subject to the SEC’s allegations of being a security, which increases the odds.
The price of Litecoin has risen almost 24% in the last 24 hours and stood at $129.49 at the time of writing. CryptoSlate facts. This is the largest daily gain within the 25 largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.
Wave of approvals
Seyffart and Balchunas predicted 2025 would see a wave of ETF approvals hit the market. The most likely products to receive SEC approval were the commingled ETFs, which track Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).
These products received their first approval in 2024 when the regulator approved Hashdex and Franklin Templeton’s filings. The next products on the line are Litecoin and Hedera (HBAR), and the forecast is right on target.
Funds tied to XRP and SOL are also on the list, although analysts believe they could be delayed due to the SEC lawsuits classifying these crypto as securities.
However, newly elected President Donald Trump is reportedly consider including XRP, SOL and USD Coin (USDC) in the US National Reserve. This would increase the chances of approval for spot XRP and SOL ETFs.