Nashville-basedassetmanagerCanaryCapitalfiledanS-1formforaLitecoin(LTC)exchange-tradedfund(ETF)withtheUSSecuritiesandExchangeCommission(SEC)onOct.15.
Canary’sfilingisthefirstapplicationforaLitecoin-linkedspotETFintheUSandcomeslessthanaweekaftertheassetmanager’sXRPETFfilingonOct.8.
CanaryCapitalCEOandfounderStevenMcClurgwaspreviouslyValkyrieInvestmentschiefinvestmentofficer,havingco-foundedtheassetmanageralongwithLeahWald.
DifferentfromSolanaETFfilings
AlexThorn,headofresearchatGalaxyDigital,toldCryptoSlatethatLitecoinisgenerallyconsideredtohavebeena“fairlaunch,”meaningtherewasnopre-mineortokensale.
Additionally,becauseLitecoinisbasedonaproof-of-workconsensusmodel,therewasnoofferingofLTCbyanyentitytopublicorprivateinvestors.Thornadded:
“TheSEChasn’tstateditspositiononthematter,butit’sunlikelythatLitecoincouldbeconsideredtohavebeenofferedasasecuritysincetherewasnoofferingatall.Thus,issuersshouldtheoreticallyhavethesamepathwaytolaunchspot-basedLitecoinETFsintheUnitedStatesastheydidforBitcoin.”
AccordingtoThorn,thesamecannotbesaidaboutspotSolanaETFssincetheblockchainisbasedonaproof-of-stakeconsensusalgorithmandconductedatokensale.
ThornstatedthatthismakestheinitiallaunchfactpatternofSolanadifferentfromBitcoinandLitecoin.Furthermore,theSECcurrentlyallegesinitslawsuitagainstCoinbasethatSOLisa“cryptoassetsecurity.”
Thornsaid:
“[This]iswhysomeanalystshavesuggestedthatSOLETFfilingsarebetsonaTrumpvictoryinNovember,asachangeintheSEC’sapproachtoclassifyingcryptoassetsassecuritieswouldlikelyberequiredbeforetheagencywouldapprovethelistingofSOLETFs.”
MarketdominatedbyGrayscale
AccordingtoBloombergETFanalystJamesSeyffart,ETPslikeCoinShares’LITEinSwitzerlandandETCGroup’sELTCinGermanyalreadyholdLitecoin.Meanwhile,theUSmarketiscurrentlyonlytappedbytheGrayscaleLitecoinTrust(LTCN).
AccordingtoaCoinSharesreport,theLTCfundsofferedinEuropehold$11.5millionincombinedassetsundermanagement(AUM),whichrepresentslessthan10%ofthetotalAUMofLitecoin-relatedETPsglobally.
Meanwhile,LTCNhas$127.4millioninAUM,whichmakesuptheremaining93%ofthemoneyinvestedinLitecoin-relatedETPsorldwide.
cryptoslate.com