Crypto asset manager Grayscale submitted a registration statement for its Avalanche Trust to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday, seeking approval to “uplist” the investment vehicle and convert it into a full-fledged exchange-traded fund.
The product, which Grayscale introduced last year as a private placement for accredited investors, would offer exposure to Avalanche’s spot price on the Nasdaq, while the fund’s coins are safeguarded by crypto exchange Coinbase, according to an SEC filing.
Friday’s filing represented another step in the approval process for Avalanche-focused funds, as asset managers race to establish similar products for other altcoins like Solana and XRP.
In March, the Nasdaq filed a 19b-4 form on Grayscale’s behalf to list shares of its Avalanche Trust. Crypto asset manager VanEck established a trust company for an Avalanche fund in Delaware weeks earlier, and is pursuing a spot Avalanche ETF in the U.S. itself.
In June, the SEC punted on VanEck’s application, giving itself additional time to make a decision. Applications focused on other cryptocurrencies have faced similar delays.
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Avalanche is the 22nd largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, worth $10 billion, according to crypto data provider CoinGecko. On Monday, the token’s price fell to $24, a 7.6% decrease over the past day.
In April, investment bank Standard Chartered predicted that the token could hit a price of $55 by the end of the year and $250 by the end of the decade, citing its unique approach to scaling through so-called app networks, previously called subnets. AVAX previously peaked at a price just shy of $155 back in 2021.
