The Nasdaq has filed a 19b-4 application with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) seeking approval for a spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) that would track the performance of Avalanche, managed by Grayscale.
Grayscale already oversees an Avalanche Trust that commands a 2.5% management fee. Should the application be successful, it may pave the way for a more affordable and versatile investment option that offers direct exposure to the AVAX token, showcasing a growing industry movement towards creating regulated avenues for trading altcoins. However, the SEC has yet to authorize any spot altcoin ETFs aside from those providing exposure to ether (ETH).
If granted approval, Grayscale’s fund would provide another means for traditional investors to gain access to cryptocurrency assets through standard brokerage accounts. According to the filing, Coinbase Custody would serve as the ETF’s custodian.
This ETF would directly hold AVAX, mirroring the market price of the native token of the Avalanche network. As of this moment, the cryptocurrency is trading at $20.5, having dropped 6.6% in the past 24 hours during a broader market downturn, as reflected by a more than 4% decline in the wider CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20).
Other firms are also expressing interest in Avalanche. Earlier this month, VanEck submitted an S-1 form for an Avalanche ETF.
Last month, Grayscale filed for an ETF focused on Cardano, which would be the company’s initial standalone ADA investment product.