Nasdaq Stock Exchange representative Grayscale submits 19b-4 file for Polkadot spot ETF

According to The Block, the Nasdaq Stock Exchange has submitted a 19b-4 filing on behalf of Grayscale, a cryptocurrency asset management company, to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to apply for the listing of Grayscale Polkadot Trust (DOT), a Polkadot spot exchange traded fund (ETF) whose assets consist solely of DOT tokens (the native token of Polkadot's blockchain).

The initiators of this fund are Grayscale Operating and Grayscale Investments Sponsors, both of which are wholly-owned subsidiaries of Digital Currency Group. Grayscale announced the launch of several new cryptocurrency trust funds in 2021, including Grayscale Polkadot Trust.

The 19b-4 form is submitted by the exchange on behalf of the issuing institution and is the second step in the two-step process of proposing the listing of a cryptocurrency ETF to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Once accepted by the SEC, the document will be published in the Federal Register, initiating the agency's approval process.

Prior to this, 21Shares submitted its first application for Polkadot spot ETF at the end of January.

Progress of Other Cryptocurrency ETF Applications

This week, Nasdaq also submitted the 19b-4 filing for the Hedera spot ETF to the SEC on behalf of digital asset investment firm Canary Capital, aiming to apply for the listing of a fund that provides exposure to Hedera's native token HBAR.

The SEC has recently accepted multiple new cryptocurrency ETF applications, including funds based on XRP, Dogecoin (DOGE), and Solana. In addition, the Litecoin spot ETF applied for by Canary Capital has been added to the ETF list on the US Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation (DTCC) website, which may make Litecoin (LTC) the third currency after Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) to serve as the underlying asset for US cryptocurrency spot ETFs.