Grayscale Investment, with $45 billion in AUM, has withdrawn registration filings for its proposed Cardano (ADA), Hedera (HBAR), and Polkadot (DOT) ETFs, ending the latest stage of plans that had been in place since 2025.
The announcement comes just before CME’s regulated ADA futures complete six months of trading on August 9.
Grayscale Withdraws Three Altcoin ETFs Back to Back
According to SEC filings, Grayscale submitted three Form RW requests on Aug. 7, withdrawing the S-1 registration statements for its Cardano Trust ETF, Hedera Trust ETF and Polkadot Trust ETF.
The Cardano and Polkadot S-1 filings were first submitted on Aug. 29, 2025, while the Hedera filing followed on Sept. 9, 2025.
However, the ETF plans had already lost an important part of their path to launch. The related exchange filings were withdrawn months earlier. NYSE Arca withdrew the Cardano listing proposal on Sept. 29, 2025. Nasdaq later withdrew the Polkadot and Hedera proposals on Nov. 3, 2025.
This left Grayscale with registration filings that could not move forward without an active exchange listing process.
Why Did Grayscale Withdraw ADA, HBAR and DOT ETFs?
The decision appears to be more of a strategic withdrawal than an SEC rejection. A crypto ETF generally needs two key SEC filings. The S-1 provides details about the fund, while the 19b-4 filing allows the exchange to seek approval to list the product.
With the exchange proposals already gone, keeping the S-1 filings active offered little benefit.
Grayscale instead chose to withdraw the applications before the process reached a formal SEC decision. The company used standard Form RW language, saying it did not plan to continue with the planned share distribution.
The filings also stated that the registrations had not become effective and that no shares had been issued or sold.
No Formal SEC Rejection for Cardano, HBAR or DOT
Grayscale did not receive a formal SEC rejection for these ETF registrations. Instead, the company voluntarily ended the filings. That leaves room for Grayscale to potentially return with new applications if market conditions or U.S. crypto rules become more favorable.
Meanwhile, other early-stage filings linked to Bittensor (TAO), Aave (AAVE), BNB, Near Protocol (NEAR) and Zcash (ZEC) remain in place. This makes Grayscale’s move more selective.
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