Nasdaq has submitted form 19b-4 filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), seeking approval to list shares of a Polkadot exchange-traded fund (ETF). The filing, on behalf of Swiss-based asset manager 21Shares, seeks the SEC’s approval for the listing and trading of shares in the 21Shares Polkadot ETF. Nasdaq ’s filing follows 21Shares’ earlier this month filing of an amended S-1 registration for the spot Polkadot ETF with the regulator. On March 18, 2025, Nasdaq submitted form 19b-4, which is the next step in the process towards the offering of the spot ETF on the stock exchange. If approved, the exchange-traded fund will provide investors with a regulated vehicle to gain exposure to Polkadot’s native token DOT. Per documents filed with the SEC, Coinbase will serve as the custodian for the DOT ETF’s holdings. Approval will see the product trade on Nasdaq and track the spot price of DOT, currently the 27th largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. Flurry of altcoin ETFs, including Polkadot A flurry of such filings in the past several months means 21Shares’ Polkadot ETF joins a host of other altcoin ETF applications before the SEC. With only Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs to have received the regulator’s greenlight so far in the US, the likes of Litecoin, Solana, XRP, and Dogecoin line up to be next. Major issuers have filed rule change proposals for these altcoin-based ETFs, including Fidelity, Grayscale , WisdomTree and Canary Capital. 21Shares is also in the mix with a number of applications, including exchange-traded funds tied to XRP and Solana. What next? With this latest filing, the SEC now faces a 45-day window to acknowledge the form 19b-4. Next will be a 240-day review period in which the regulator has to give a final decision either approving or disapproving the proposal. Polkadot is now among coins the crypto industry will watch closely amid the SEC’s handling of the applications. Price could fluctuate sharply on the days there’s a decision or delay. Polkadot price DOT trades around $4.25, down nearly 3% in the past 24 hours. Its market cap stood at approximately $6.4 billion. This comes as the Polkadot community sees a modest reaction to the news. DOT reached an intraday high of $4.43 on March 18. However, bears remained largely in control after the recent dip from highs of $5.30. Polkadot has also traded downward since breaking lower in mid-December 2024 when bulls gave up the support zone at $10. News of the ETF-related developments previously buoyed Polkadot price in January and February. However, with BTC, ETH, and the top 10 altcoins suffering a bloodbath in recent weeks, DOT has not escaped either. The post Nasdaq files 19b-4 for 21Shares' Polkadot ETF as altcoin ETFs gain traction appeared first on Invezz
