'Things are getting wild:' Funds file dozens of proposals for cryptocurrency ETFs to the SEC

At least two dozen new cryptocurrency-related exchange-traded funds were filed on Friday, as firms await the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's sign-off.

REX Shares and Osprey Funds filed prospectuses for 21 ETFs, from ones tracking SUI to BCH to HYPE and others with staking components. Defiance ETFs LLC also filed with the SEC leveraged funds tracking crypto, but also Tesla and Amazon.

"Things are getting wild," said Bloomberg Intelligence analyst James Seyffart on Friday in a post on X.

The SEC is sitting on numerous proposals for crypto ETFs from ones tracking DOGE to XRP to LTC, which were filed in the wake of a friendlier regulatory environment since President Donald Trump took office in January.

Filings made on Friday come after the SEC approved listing standards proposed by three exchanges, asking the agency to change a rule governing the trading and listing of commodity-based trust shares, which sets out specific requirements to have certain shares listed on their exchanges. The approval means that dozens of crypto ETF applications would not need to go through the 19b-4 process; therefore, it pivotally reduces the timeline for those funds to begin trading.

Shutdown

Some ETFs that are further along than the ones filed on Friday are approaching deadlines over the next few weeks. However, they are now stuck after the U.S. government shut down on Wednesday after Congress failed to reach a deal on funding. A shutdown could last a week or, as in 2018, as long as 34 days.

The shutdown leaves the SEC with limited resources and so it probably won't be taking action that would lead to crypto ETFs being allowed to list and trade. Unless SEC Chairman Paul Atkins and the agency's division directors gave staff guidance to hustle certain short-term items across the finish line, the expectation is that the SEC is not working on crypto ETFs' registration statements until the government reopens, a source told The Block earlier this week.