Sixteen crypto ETFs hit final SEC deadlines in October
October is shaping up as “ETF month” for crypto in the U.S., with the Securities and Exchange Commission facing final deadlines on a wave of spot funds tied to major altcoins. Industry watchers say it’s an unusually crowded slate — and note that the SEC can decide any time before each cutoff.
ETF analyst Nate Geraci framed the next few weeks as “enormous” for spot crypto ETFs as multiple files hit their finish line. Bloomberg’s James Seyffart has circulated a running calendar that starts with Canary’s spot Litecoin ETF on Oct. 2, followed by Grayscale’s proposed conversions of its Solana and Litecoin trusts on Oct. 10, and closes – for the October set – with WisdomTree’s XRP fund on Oct. 24. Crypto trader Daan Crypto Trades points out that BlackRock and Fidelity do not have applications among this month’s deadlines, even though they are major players in the category.
Decisions may also land before those dates; the “final deadline” is simply the last day the SEC must act.
A procedural shift on Sept. 17 shortened the path for future launches: the SEC approved a new listing standard for commodity-based trust shares, which ETF analysts say could pave the way for a broader wave of spot crypto ETPs. Seyffart called the change a positive step toward more approvals; Eric Balchunas noted that many coins with listed futures could now be eligible for spot ETFs. Shortly after the rule change, Hashdex expanded its crypto ETF mandate to include Ripple (XRP), Solana (SOL) and Stellar (XLM) – an early sign of the broadened menu.
The October slate spans several high‑profile names: Solana (SOL), Ripple (XRP), Dogecoin (DOGE), Litecoin (LTC), Cardano (ADA) and Hedera (HBAR) are all referenced in this month’s timetable. Not every filing is from a household‑name issuer, and the SEC could approve some, none, or all – in any order and before deadlines.
Analysts at Bitfinex suggested in August that a cluster of spot approvals could act as a catalyst for altcoins by giving traditional investors a cleaner way to gain exposure. That represents a potential outcome rather than a certainty. For now, the concrete takeaway is access: each approval would add a ticker that brokerages can route, retirement accounts can hold (where permitted), and wealth platforms can model.
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