Swiss-based crypto asset manager 21Shares has submitted a registration statement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) seeking approval to launch the first spot Sei exchange-traded fund (ETF).
The Form S-1 filing, dated Aug. 28, details plans for the 21Shares Sei ETF, a passive investment vehicle that would directly hold SEI, the native token of the Sei Network. If approved, it would be the first U.S.-listed ETF tied to the blockchain’s token.
The ETF would track the CF Sei-Dollar Reference Rate, an index from CF Benchmarks that aggregates pricing data from multiple spot exchanges. Custody of SEI tokens would be managed by Coinbase Custody Trust Company, with Coinbase Inc. serving as the fund’s prime broker.
Staking Option on the Table
The filing also leaves room for the fund to potentially stake SEI tokens to generate rewards. However, 21Shares emphasized that this would depend on regulatory clarity. If incorporated, the move could make the firm one of the first to explore adding staking yields to an altcoin ETF—an idea already debated in connection with pending Solana ETF applications.
Rising Institutional Interest in Sei
Sei, a layer-1 blockchain built for decentralized finance and high-throughput trading, has gained traction thanks to its low fees and capacity to process thousands of transactions per second. The ETF proposal highlights growing institutional demand for exposure to the network’s ecosystem.
Altcoin ETF Competition Expands
The filing comes just weeks after Canary Capital lodged a similar proposal for a Sei ETF, underscoring the intensifying race among issuers to bring altcoin-based funds to market. Firms such as VanEck and Franklin Templeton have also applied for spot ETFs tied to Solana, XRP, and Cardano.
For 21Shares, the move builds on its global lineup of Bitcoin and Ethereum products and follows its July filing for a U.S. spot Solana ETF. Analysts see the Sei application as part of a broader wave of altcoin ETF efforts spurred by the SEC’s greenlight for spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs earlier this year.
The SEC has yet to comment on the proposal, and approval remains uncertain given the regulator’s cautious stance on crypto assets beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum. Still, if approved, a spot Sei ETF would provide institutional investors with a regulated gateway into one of the fastest-growing blockchain networks.
