Ex-Valkyrie Founder’s Canary Capital Group Files for First Litecoin ETF

• Canary Capital Group has filed to launch an exchange-traded fund tracking the price of Litecoin.

• The firm, which was founded by former Valkyrie Funds co-founder Steven McClurg, is the first to apply for such a fund.

• The current submission in the form of a S-1 filing is a first step but meaningless unless it is followed by a 19b-4 filing.

Canary Capital Group, a new digital asset-focused investment firm founded by former Valkyrie Funds co-founder Steven McClurg, seemingly wants to become a leader in the world of crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) rather than a follower.

The firm on Tuesday submitted paperwork to launch the Canary Litecoin (LTC) ETF.

The token is the native cryptocurrency of Litecoin, an open-source blockchain project whose code is copied from Bitcoin’s. Though several non-native ETF issuers have launched crypto funds this year, this is the first filing for a fund tied to LTC.

For Canary, which is only about a month old, this marks the second ETF that the firm has plans to launch after it filed documents for an XRP fund with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) a week ago.

Both filings have yet to disclose the management fee or ticker for the potential fund.

The firm submitted an S-1 document on Tuesday, a requirement for companies seeking to issue a new security and be listed on a public stock exchange. It is one of two filings needed to launch an exchange-traded product.

The filing is thought to be the first step in introducing a fund, but it is meaningless if it isn’t followed by the 19b-4 filing, which signals a rule change at the stock exchange on which the fund would be traded.

The latter requires the SEC to stick to a strict timeline in approving or denying the application, while the regulator has no requirement to respond to the S-1 filing.

LTC jumped 5% higher on the news of the filing, trading at $66.46 as of price time.