Grayscale files for Polkadot and Cardano ETFs following earlier 19b-4 moves

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Key Takeaways

Grayscale has filed S-1s for Polkadot and Cardano ETFs, expanding its single-asset trust lineup.
The firm had already submitted 19b-4s earlier this year, with Nasdaq backing the Polkadot trust and NYSE Arca handling Cardano.

Grayscale has filed registration statements with the SEC for exchange-traded funds tied to Polkadot (DOT) and Cardano (ADA), expanding its roster of single-asset crypto products.

The proposed Grayscale Polkadot Trust ETF would list on Nasdaq under the ticker DOT and track the CoinDesk DOT CCIXber Reference Rate. The Cardano product would trade on NYSE Arca under the ticker GADA and follow the CoinDesk Cardano Price Index. Both are structured as passive vehicles holding the underlying assets in custody with Coinbase, without using leverage or derivatives.

The filings follow earlier 19b-4 submissions from February 2025, when Nasdaq applied to list the Polkadot trust and NYSE Arca did the same for Cardano. Grayscale had already positioned these products for regulatory review.

James Seyffart, ETF analyst at Bloomberg, noted that these are not brand-new efforts but continuations of filings 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.

Since the start of the year, issuers including VanEck, Bitwise, 21Shares, CoinShares, Franklin, and Canary have filed for multiple altcoin ETFs as they look to offer exposure beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum. The most notable tokens in these applications are Solana, XRP, Cardano, Polkadot, Litecoin, and HBAR, with 21Shares most recently adding a SEI ETF filing yesterday.