Nasdaq Files with SEC to List 21Shares Polkadot ETF
March 18, 2025
The Nasdaq Stock Market has submitted Form 19b-4 to the U.S. SEC to list an ETF for Polkadot, managed by asset manager 21Shares.
In the filing, Nasdaq disclosed plans to list and trade shares of the 21Shares Polkadot Trust as commodity-based trust shares.
This latest move follows 21Shares’ initial filing of a registration statement with the SEC in January to launch the Polkadot Trust, a crypto ETF.
At the time of the initial filing, 21Shares stated that it expected to list the trust on the Cboe BZX Exchange. However, Nasdaq is now submitting an updated filing to list shares of the 21Shares Polkadot Trust.
Details of the Polkadot ETF
Under the management of 21Shares US LLC, the sponsor, the Trust will hold DOT, the native token of the Polkadot Network.
Notably, the DOT token will be in the custody of Coinbase. Further, the Trust will track the performance of DOT through the CME CF Polkadot-Dollar Reference Rate — New York Variant, calculated by CF Benchmarks Ltd.
The filing emphasized that the Trust will not engage in speculative trading or leverage and will only hold DOT. Notably, the Trust sells DOT tokens when shares are redeemed and uses the proceeds to settle the transaction in cash.
When the Trust creates or redeems shares, it transfers DOT in or out in exchange for blocks of 10,000 shares. Authorized financial firms provide cash to buy shares, and the Trust uses that money to acquire DOT through a third party.
Steps to Approval
The filing of Form 19b-4 for the Polkadot ETF brings the product a step closer to approval. Specifically, the next step is for the SEC to acknowledge the form submitted by Nasdaq. Upon acknowledgment, an eight-month timeline (240 days) opens for the SEC to decide whether to approve or reject the ETF.
Notably, 21Shares is not the only asset manager seeking a Polkadot ETF. Prominent asset manager Grayscale has also submitted an application to list a Polkadot ETF.
DOT currently ranks as the 21st biggest cryptocurrency by market cap, with a valuation of $6.71 billion. The news of the filing by Nasdaq has not impacted its price, as the token is trading at a 1.3% dip at press time.
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