Grayscale Seeks Approval For Spot Cardano And Polkadot ETFs As SEC Reviews Altcoin-Based Funds
Major cryptocurrency investment company Grayscale Investments filed registration statements with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tied to Polkadot...

Major cryptocurrency investment company Grayscale Investments filed registration statements with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tied to Polkadot (DOT) and Cardano (ADA).
The Cardano fund would be listed on NYSE Arca under the ticker GADA. The Coinbase Custody platform would handle the custody, and it would track ADA’s price using the CoinDesk Cardano Index (ADX). Shares would be issued in blocks of 10,000 and may allow ADA staking for rewards in the future.
The proposed Grayscale Polkadot Trust ETF would trade on Nasdaq under the ticker DOT and track the CoinDesk DOT CCIXber Reference Rate.
Both funds are designed as passive vehicles that offer investors exposure to the underlying assets without requiring them to directly hold them.
Grayscale’s S-1 for a spot DOT ETF came months after the US stock exchange, Nasdaq, sought permission to list the fund on February 24, and NYSE Arca did the same for ADA.
Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst James Seyffart explained that these are not brand-new proposals but rather continuations of applications already in motion.
“Grayscale submits S-1s for both their Cardano and Polkadot ETFs. They had already submitted 19b-4s for each of these — so these aren’t brand new filings,” he wrote on X.
Cardano was recently trading 0.4% higher while DOT has dived 1% over the past 24 hours, according to market data provider CoinGecko. Their lackluster performances have dovetailed with wider losses in crypto markets in recent days, with most major assets in the red over the past week.
Altcoin ETF Filings Proliferate
Grayscale’s latest crypto ETF proposal comes as investment firms increasingly seek regulatory clearance for digital asset-based funds in the U.S. amid the country’s rolled-back crypto industry regulations and as investor demand for crypto-focused products has soared.
The election victory last year of U.S. President Donald Trump, whose family has strong financial ties to the crypto industry, kicked off a filing craze among asset managers for a litany of ETFs based on various cryptocurrencies — from Ripple’s XRP, ADA, and DOT to meme coins such as Dogecoin, BONK, and Official Trump.
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