Grayscale Hits Altcoin ETF's "Oops, Never Mind" Button on ADA, HBAR, DOT 🚪

Grayscale Investments filed three Form RWs with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday, withdrawing registration statements for proposed spot exchange-traded funds tied to Cardano ($ADA), Hedera ($HBAR) and Polkadot ($DOT). The asset manager cited Rule 477 under the Securities Act of 1933 to remove its prior Form S-1 filings, amendments, and exhibits for the Grayscale Cardano Trust ETF, Grayscale Hedera Trust ETF, and Grayscale Polkadot Trust ETF.

The S-1 registration statements were originally submitted in late August and early September 2024, during a broader wave of altcoin ETF proposals filed with the SEC. Grayscale stated in the filings that it "does not intend to proceed with the planned distribution" of the products, and provided no further public explanation for the withdrawal.

Following the announcement, $ADA, $HBAR, and $DOT each declined roughly 2%, extending recent losses across the altcoin segment. The withdrawals narrow the field of pending altcoin ETF applications under SEC review and leave Grayscale's existing spot product lineup, which includes spot Bitcoin ($BTC) and Ethereum ($ETH) trusts, unchanged.

The filings do not preclude Grayscale from reapplying for the products at a later date, though the company has not indicated any plans to do so. Other issuers continue to maintain active applications for spot funds tracking Solana ($SOL) and XRP ($XRP), among other tokens, with SEC decisions on several of those proposals still pending.