Grayscale withdrew ETF registrations for Cardano and Hedera on Aug. 7, filing three Form RW withdrawals within 190 seconds. A Polkadot filing was also pulled. No explanation was given.
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Grayscale withdrew three ETF registration requests on Aug. 7, abandoning plans to list exchange-traded funds based on Cardano and Hedera. A third filing for Polkadot was also pulled.
The withdrawals came in three Form RW submissions filed between 4:33 and 4:36 p.m. ET, SEC records show. Each used identical language: “Grayscale does not intend to proceed with the proposed distribution of shares.”
The firm issued no public statement explaining the decision. Rule 477 allows issuers to voluntarily abandon a registration before the SEC approves it. None of the three products had been declared effective. No securities had been issued or sold.
The move reverses the enthusiasm the firm showed earlier this year, when it filed S-1 registrations for the Cardano and Polkadot funds during a wave of altcoin ETF applications from major issuers. The track record already carried warning signs: NYSE Arca withdrew its Cardano listing proposal last September. Nasdaq did the same for Polkadot and Hedera months later.
No altcoin ETF beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum products has received SEC approval to date. The withdrawals suggest issuers are recalibrating which tokens justify the cost and timeline of a U.S.-listed vehicle under the current regulatory stance.
The withdrawals do not signal a retreat from crypto ETFs overall. Grayscale submitted a preliminary S-1 for a Worldcoin ETF in July. Its Hyperliquid Staking ETF trades in the U.S. market with the lowest sponsor fee among HYPE products listed here. Two days before the withdrawals, Grayscale’s head of research warned publicly that Washington risks an exodus of investment if the CLARITY Act fails to advance in the Senate.
Grayscale already operates private trusts for Cardano, Hedera, and Polkadot. The ETF filings would have converted those trusts to exchange-traded format. The withdrawal leaves the trusts unchanged, meaning existing investors retain exposure through the over-the-counter market rather than a listed product.
The simultaneous push for a more favorable regulatory environment and the abandonment of three pending registrations illustrates how selectively issuers operate under the SEC’s current deadlines and requirements. For holders of the three tokens, the door is not permanently closed. Any issuer, including Grayscale, may refile applications if regulatory conditions or market demand change.
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