VanEck, a global investment manager, has filed an application with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to establish an Avalanche (AVAX) exchange-traded fund (ETF). The proposed ETF aims to give investors direct exposure to the AVAX token, which is the native cryptocurrency of the Avalanche network. The ETF seeks to track the price performance of AVAX, minus the trust’s operational expenses.
On March 14, Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart shared a snippet of the S-1 filing on social media, noting that while the Trust’s registration gained attention earlier in the week, this was the first official filing with the SEC. The VanEck Avalanche ETF plans to reflect the performance of AVAX and will value its shares daily based on the MarketVector Avalanche Benchmark Rate. Avalanche is known for its high throughput and compatibility with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM).
Currently, AVAX is the 16th largest cryptocurrency, with a market capitalization of $7.7 billion. This filing comes at a time when the crypto ETF landscape is experiencing a growing trend.
VanEck’s Avalanche ETF filing progress
The success of US spot Bitcoin ETFs and the election of a pro-crypto administration in Washington have encouraged numerous crypto fund applications at the SEC. Recently, nine issuers, including Franklin Templeton, have filed for an XRP ETF. There are also filings for ETFs linked to Solana (SOL), Litecoin (LTC), and Dogecoin (DOGE).
Seyffart and Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchinas believe that these altcoin ETFs could be approved later this year. They suggest that such approvals could lead to significant inflows, indicating strong demand for cryptocurrency investments. SOL and XRP ETFs, in particular, could attract substantial institutional interest, potentially drawing billions in their first year.
A report from JPMorgan estimates that the adoption of SOL and XRP ETFs could result in net assets ranging from $3 billion to $6 billion for SOL and $4 billion to $8 billion for XRP. The interest in cryptocurrency ETFs continues to grow, with US Bitcoin ETF assets recently surpassing the $100 billion mark.