Grayscale Withdraws Registration Applications for Three Shitcoin ETFs; Applications Are Not Assets, Effectiveness Is Assets
Grayscale has submitted Form RW to the SEC, withdrawing the S-1 registration statements for the proposed spot ETFs for Cardano, Hedera, and Polkadot; this is not a rejection by the SEC, but rather the issuer's proactive termination of the current registration process.
All three withdrawal documents were accepted by the SEC on August 7, with the original S-1s for Cardano and Polkadot submitted on August 29, 2025, and Hedera's original S-1 submitted on September 9, 2025. The documents state that Grayscale "does not intend to proceed with the proposed issuance of trust shares," and that the registration statements for the three products have not become effective, have not issued or sold securities, nor distributed preliminary prospectuses.
Potential buyers originally included U.S. ETF investors configuring exposure to ADA, HBAR, and DOT through brokerage accounts; following the withdrawal, the relevant tokens temporarily lose a traditional funding entry point provided by Grayscale products. Spot exchanges, on-chain staking, and existing trust products will still compete for allocation demand, but ETF market makers, authorized participants, and custodians cannot deploy redemption and liquidity services around these three ineffective products.
Source: Public Information
ABAB AI Insight
Grayscale's historical path is not simply about "issuing funds," but rather repeatedly using trust-ETF conversions to open traditional capital channels. GBTC will convert to a spot Bitcoin ETF and list on NYSE Arca on January 11, 2024; prior to this, Grayscale had sued the SEC in 2022 to challenge its decision to reject the conversion application, and the court ruling ultimately forced the SEC to re-examine the related applications.
The withdrawal is also not the first time Grayscale has adjusted products in front of the regulatory window. In May 2024, NYSE Arca withdrew Grayscale's application for a change in listing rules for the Ethereum futures ETF, just weeks away from a key approval node for the spot Ethereum ETF; the withdrawal did not publicly disclose specific reasons, but Grayscale's Ethereum trust conversion application was still in progress at that time. The simultaneous withdrawal of these three S-1s also did not disclose commercial or regulatory motives, so it cannot be directly equated to a negative judgment by the SEC on ADA, HBAR, or DOT.
The key to the capital path is that the S-1 is responsible for securities registration, while exchange rule changes are responsible for product listing and trading; if any link is interrupted, the product cannot enter investor accounts. Grayscale has withdrawn ineffective registration statements, meaning the current structure's issuance plan is terminated, but this does not preclude its future re-entry into the market with new registration documents, different fund structures, or different listing arrangements.
This is a product screening under regulatory changes. Bitcoin ETFs have established a standardized template for crypto assets to enter brokerage channels, but shitcoin ETFs must simultaneously meet requirements for issuance registration, exchange listing, custody, liquidity, and investor protection. The more standardized the regulatory channels, the more asset managers will concentrate capital on issuable, marketable, and allocatable targets, rather than relying solely on token market value or community enthusiasm to determine product fate.
ABAB News · Cognitive Law
Applications are not assets; effectiveness is assets
Regulatory channels determine the width of capital entry
Product withdrawal does not equal rejection, but will freeze expectations