1. Concentrated Listing of Altcoin ETFs

In the fourth quarter of 2025, the U.S. market will experience a concentrated explosion of altcoin spot ETFs. Following the opening of the ETF door for Bitcoin and Ethereum, altcoin ETFs for XRP, DOGE, LTC, HBAR, and others will successively launch in the U.S., while ETFs for assets like AVAX and LINK will also enter a fast-track approval phase. In stark contrast to the decade-long regulatory struggle for Bitcoin ETFs, this batch of altcoin ETFs will complete the entire process from application to listing in just a few months, reflecting a significant shift in the U.S. regulatory attitude. The emergence of altcoin ETFs is no longer an isolated event but a natural result of the structural relaxation of cryptocurrency regulation.

The key factors igniting this listing wave primarily stem from two points: the SEC's approval of the revised "General Listing Standards for Commodity Trust Shares" on September 17, 2025, and the triggering of the "8(a) clause" during the U.S. government shutdown in November. The general listing standards establish a unified access system for cryptocurrency asset ETFs, allowing qualifying assets to bypass the lengthy individual review process by the SEC. As long as a cryptocurrency asset has a history of over six months in a CFTC-regulated futures market and has a monitoring sharing mechanism, or if there are already ETFs with at least 40% related exposure in the market, it can apply under this system, reducing the exchange-side approval period from 240 days to 60–75 days.

Additionally, the triggering of the "8(a) clause" in November and the SEC's passive position accelerated the ETF launch process. During the U.S. government shutdown, the general standards were briefly interrupted, but on November 14, the SEC issued guidance allowing issuers to proactively remove delay amendment clauses from their S-1 registration statements for the first time. According to Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, statements that do not include this clause will automatically take effect after 20 days unless the SEC actively halts them. This created a de facto tacit listing channel. At this time, due to the government shutdown, various departments were unable to block applications individually within a limited timeframe. Publishers like Bitwise and Franklin Templeton quickly seized the opportunity by removing delay clauses to complete rapid registrations, driving the concentrated launch of altcoin ETFs in mid to late November, resulting in the current wave of cryptocurrency asset ETF listings.

2. Performance Analysis of Major Altcoin ETFs (October–December 2025)

Solana (SOL)

The first batch of SOL products was launched on October 28. Despite a continuous decline in SOL's price by about 31% since its listing, funds have shown a counter-trend inflow, buying more as prices drop. As of December 2, the entire SOL ETF sector has seen a cumulative net inflow of up to $618 million, with total assets reaching $915 million, accounting for 1.15% of SOL's total market capitalization. Achieving such scale in less than two months also reflects the market's broad recognition of SOL as the "third-largest public chain."

The BSOL launched by Bitwise has performed the most outstandingly, attracting approximately $574 million in funds, making it the largest single fund by inflow within the SOL ETF category. The key to BSOL's leading position lies in its designed staking yield mechanism— all held SOL is directly staked, and the staking rewards are not distributed to investors but are automatically reinvested to enhance the fund's net value growth. This method of linking staking returns to the fund's net value provides a compliant, convenient, and yield-advantaged alternative for institutions/investors wishing to participate in the SOL ecosystem without managing private keys and nodes themselves.

Ripple (XRP)

The XRP ETF began launching on November 13, 2025, during which XRP's price fell by about 9%. Similar to SOL, the XRP ETF also exhibited a trend of buying more as prices drop. By December 2, it had accumulated a net inflow of $824 million, with a total asset value of approximately $844 million, accounting for 0.65% of XRP's total market capitalization. The scale gap among major publishers in the XRP ETF products has not widened significantly, with several institutions showing a relatively balanced market share.

Doge (DOGE)

The DOGE ETF faced complete market indifference, confirming the significant gap between meme coins and institutional funding channels. Products represented by Grayscale's GDOG (launched on November 24) performed extremely poorly, with a cumulative net inflow of only $2.68 million and an asset management scale of less than $7 million, accounting for only 0.03% of Doge's total market capitalization. More severely, similar products from Bitwise even experienced zero inflow, and the low daily trading volume (about $1.09 million) indicates that traditional investors remain skeptical about DOGE and similar meme assets, which lack fundamental support and primarily rely on community sentiment.

Hedera (HBAR)

The HBAR ETF, representing small to mid-cap projects, achieved a relatively successful penetration effect compared to its own scale. This ETF launched on October 29, and despite HBAR's price dropping about 28% over the past two months, it has accumulated a net inflow of $82.04 million. This has resulted in the HBAR ETF's asset management scale reaching 1.08% of HBAR's total market capitalization. This penetration effect is significantly higher than that of DOGE, LTC, and other altcoins, which may indicate market confidence in HBAR as a mid-cap asset with clear enterprise-level applications.

Litecoin (LTC)

The LTC ETF has become a classic case, as traditional assets lacking new narratives find it difficult to rejuvenate even with the ETF channel. After its launch on October 29, its price performance was weak, declining about 7.4%, and it garnered little attention in terms of funds, with a cumulative net inflow of only $7.47 million, often experiencing awkward situations of zero inflow on single days. Daily trading volume of only about $530,000 highlights its insufficient liquidity. This indicates that the outdated narratives such as "digital silver" that LTC currently relies on lack appeal in today's market.

ChainLink (LINK)

Grayscale's GLINK ETF officially launched on December 3, and on its first day, it attracted nearly $40.9 million in inflow, with a current total asset value of approximately $67.55 million, accounting for 0.67% of LINK's total market capitalization. From the first-day trading results, GLINK achieved a good start in terms of liquidity and fund attractiveness.

3. Major Participants and Funding Sources of Altcoin ETFs

Since the launch of altcoin ETFs, the cryptocurrency ETF market has shown a clear differentiation: while the prices of Bitcoin and Ethereum continue to decline and related ETFs experience outflows, altcoin ETFs like SOL, XRP, HBAR, and LINK have seen inflows of funds against the trend. This means that some funds withdrawn from BTC and ETH ETFs have not left the cryptocurrency market but have shifted to assets with higher growth potential. This also indicates that the funding sources for altcoin ETFs exhibit a dual structure, comprising both reallocation of existing funds and new capital inflows.

The incremental funds primarily come from traditional financial giants participating in the issuance, including BlackRock, Fidelity, VanEck, Franklin Templeton, and Canary. The funding sources behind these institutions encompass pensions, insurance funds, wealth management accounts, 401K retirement plans, asset management clients, and family offices, which in the past were unable to directly purchase altcoins due to compliance barriers. Now, through ETFs, they can achieve legal allocation for the first time, resulting in a tangible new influx of funds. In other words, the batch launch of altcoin ETFs has provided traditional funds with a new opportunity to enter the cryptocurrency asset market.

4. Future Outlook: The Next Round of Expansion for Altcoin ETFs

The successful launch of initial products like SOL, XRP, and HBAR has clarified the institutional path for altcoin ETFs. Next, public chains with larger ecological scales and higher institutional attention will become the focus of the next batch, including AVAX, ADA, DOT, BNB, TRX, SEI, and APT. Once approved for listing, these assets are expected to attract further compliant funds, bringing a new round of liquidity expansion to the multi-chain ecosystem. Looking ahead, the altcoin ETF market will present three major trends:

First, intensified concentration among leading players and product differentiation.
Assets with clear fundamentals and long-term narratives will continue to attract funding preference, while projects lacking ecological drivers will struggle to improve performance even if listed. Meanwhile, competition among ETF products will increasingly revolve around fees, staking yields, and brand capabilities, with leading issuers capturing the majority of funds.

Second, product forms will evolve from single tracking to strategic and composite approaches.
Index-type, multi-asset baskets, and actively managed products will emerge successively to meet institutional professional needs in risk diversification, yield enhancement, and long-term allocation.

Third, ETFs will become a key force in reshaping the funding structure of the cryptocurrency market.
Assets included in ETFs will gain a "compliance premium" and stable capital inflows, while tokens that have not entered the compliance framework will face ongoing liquidity and attention loss, further reinforcing the market's layered structure.

In other words, the competitive focus of altcoin ETFs is shifting from "can they be listed" to "how to continuously attract funds after listing." As AVAX, ADA, DOT, BNB, TRX, and others enter the final stages of approval, the second round of expansion for altcoin ETFs has quietly begun. The year 2026 will be a critical juncture for the comprehensive institutionalization of cryptocurrency assets, not only expanding in terms of the number of listings but also deeply reshaping the logic of capital pricing and the competitive landscape of ecosystems.

Risk Warning:

The above information is for reference only and should not be considered as advice to buy, sell, or hold any financial assets. All information is provided in good faith. However, we make no express or implied representations or warranties regarding the accuracy, adequacy, effectiveness, reliability, availability, or completeness of such information.

All cryptocurrency investments (including financial management) are inherently highly speculative and carry significant risk of loss. Past performance, hypothetical results, or simulated data do not necessarily represent future results. The value of digital currencies may rise or fall, and buying, holding, or trading digital currencies may involve significant risks. Before trading or holding digital currencies, you should carefully assess whether participating in such investments is suitable for you based on your investment goals, financial situation, and risk tolerance. BitMart does not provide any investment, legal, or tax advice.

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