SEC Approves Grayscale's Hedera $HBAR ETF Listing on Nasdaq

• SEC evaluates Grayscale's HBAR ETF
• 21-day comment period open
• HBAR among the 20 largest crypto assets

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has granted a significant step to Grayscale Investments by to recognize a proposed rule change that will allow Nasdaq to list and trade shares of the Grayscale Hedera Trust. The move kicks off a 21-day public comment period that will be crucial to the regulator’s final decision on whether to approve the ETF.

The request was formalized earlier this month with the submission of Form 19b-4, in which Nasdaq requests permission to market this new investment product based on HBAR, the native digital asset of the Hedera Network. The shares of this fund, as proposed, would be traded as shares of a commodity-based trust, following rules similar to those applied to other financial instruments in the sector.

This acknowledgement by the SEC does not guarantee final approval of the ETF, but it does signal a potential shift in the regulator’s approach toward crypto-related financial products. This marks a contrast to previous occasions when the SEC’s hesitation led to the withdrawal of similar applications.

In addition to Grayscale, Canary Capital also plans to launch an ETF based on HBAR, with Nasdaq having submitted a similar form to Canary Capital last month. Grayscale is also seeking approval for other digital asset investment products, including those that track cryptos such as XRP, Solana, Dogecoin, Litecoin and Cardano.

Currently, HBAR, Hedera's coin, occupies the 16th position in terms of market capitalization, trading at around US$ 0,1926 with a drop of around 1% in the last 24 hours.