The Litecoin exchange-traded fund has a strong chance of becoming the next spot cryptocurrency ETF approved in the U.S., according to Bloomberg's senior analyst Eric Balchunas on Wednesday.
His remarks came after Canary Capital submitted an amended S-1 form for its Litecoin ETF on Wednesday. The S-1 form is used for the initial registration of new securities filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
“We heard discussions that the Litecoin S-1 received comments from the SEC,” Balchunas noted in his post on X, adding that this supports the prediction that Litecoin is likely to be the next cryptocurrency approved.
We had heard chatter that the Litecoin S-1 had gotten comments back from SEC. This looks to confirm that which bodes well for our prediction that Litecoin is most likely to be the next coin approved. All that said, new SEC chair has yet to start and that’s a huge variable. https://t.co/cKFswPwcr0
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) January 15, 2025
Nevertheless, Balchunas mentioned that there remains a “huge variable” — the appointment of a new SEC chair following Gary Gensler's resignation next Monday. Last month, elected President Donald Trump nominated former SEC commissioner Paul Atkins, a cryptocurrency supporter, to lead the agency, but it is still unclear when the Senate will confirm this nomination, Reuters reports.
Another Bloomberg analyst, James Seyffart, pointed out that Canary's submission of the amended S-1 could indicate SEC engagement with the application. He emphasized that the filing of form 19b-4, which is a request for rule changes from a self-regulatory organization like the New York Stock Exchange, would be a real signal for possible approval.
NEW: @CanaryFunds just filed an amended S-1 for their Litecoin ETF filing. No guarantees — but this might be indicative of SEC engagement on the filing. Still no 19b-4 filing yet though
(A 19b-4 would actually start the potential approval/denial clock) h/t @isabelletanlee pic.twitter.com/wFtNOmbmYx
— James Seyffart (@JSeyff) January 15, 2025