The Nasdaq has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to obtain approval for listing a spot Avalanche exchange-traded fund (ETF) by Grayscale Investments.
This filing, submitted on March 27, requests a change in regulations to allow the listing of the Grayscale Avalanche Trust (AVAX). The proposed ETF would transition from an existing close-ended AVAX fund launched by Grayscale in August 2024.
According to information shared on Grayscale’s official website, the company believes that “its SEC-reporting products make a compelling case for uplisting when conditions in the U.S. regulatory landscape allow it.” They noted that the conversion would enable “the arbitrage mechanism typical of ETFs to help the product align more closely with the actual asset values.”
As of now, the Grayscale Avalanche Trust manages assets worth approximately $1.76 million. The current net asset value per share stands at $10.86, corresponding to just over 0.49 AVAX per share, which is valued at $10.11 per CoinMarketCap data. This indicates that the fund’s market price is at a 7.4% premium to its underlying asset value.
Grayscale Expands Its Crypto ETF Portfolio
Grayscale’s website currently showcases 28 crypto products, including 25 single-asset derivatives and three diversified offerings. The firm is still awaiting the SEC’s approval for its XRP spot ETF, along with various other products.
Recent examples of their filings include the proposed spot Cardano ETF and the conversion of the Litecoin Trust into an ETF. These applications follow the successful transformation of Grayscale’s Ether and Bitcoin close-ended funds into spot ETFs.
In 2024, Grayscale also announced the conversion of a portion of its Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs into spinoff products. The newly introduced Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust (BTC) and Grayscale Ether Mini Trust (ETH) are designed to have reduced fees and align more with cost-effective alternatives in the market.
Data collected at the end of 2024 indicated that over $21 billion had been withdrawn from the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) since its inception on January 11, 2024, making it the only U.S.-based Bitcoin ETF with a negative investment flow during that period.
This particular product features the highest management fee among Grayscale’s offerings, set at 1.5% per annum. In contrast, other ETFs range from 0.15% for the Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust to 0.25% for the most expensive competitors.
The situation with Ethereum ETFs shows a similar trend, where the Grayscale Ether Mini Trust commands the lowest fee, while the older Ethereum trust product has the highest. Competing offerings generally do not exceed a fee of 0.25%.