Grayscale Hits Alt-Coin ETF Reverse 🪃 — Cardano, Hedera, Polkadot Withdrawals Leave Tokens Down 2%

Grayscale Investments has filed three Form RW submissions with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), formally withdrawing the S-1 registration statements for its proposed Grayscale Cardano Trust ETF, Grayscale Hedera Trust ETF, and Grayscale Polkadot Trust ETF. The asset manager invoked Rule 477 under the Securities Act of 1933 to pull each filing along with related amendments and exhibits, stating it "does not intend to proceed with the planned distribution" of the products. No further explanation was provided in the filings.

The original S-1 submissions were lodged in late August and early September of last year, filed during a broader wave of altcoin ETF proposals that followed the launch of spot Bitcoin and Ether exchange-traded funds in the United States. Grayscale's three withdrawals narrow that pipeline, leaving the firm focused on its existing spot products while peers continue to pursue similar vehicles with the regulator.

Spot prices for Cardano ($ADA), Hedera ($HBAR) and Polkadot ($DOT) each fell roughly 2% in the hours after the filings surfaced, according to market data tracked across major exchanges. The declines tracked a broader cooling in altcoin sentiment rather than any single catalyst beyond the Grayscale news itself, with $BTC and $ETH showing only muted movement over the same window.

The withdrawals do not preclude Grayscale from refiling registration statements for the same assets at a later date, a path other issuers have taken after initial SEC pushback on spot crypto ETF applications. Rule 477 allows issuers to abandon a registration before effectiveness, and the SEC does not treat such withdrawals as denials of the underlying product.

Grayscale, the world's largest crypto asset manager, declined to comment beyond the language contained in its SEC filings when reached for additional detail. The company has historically managed single-asset trusts for $BTC, $ETH and a roster of altcoins, several of which have been converted into spot ETFs following regulatory approvals.