SEC May Release Wave of Crypto ETPs with New Standards

• SEC Prepares Generic Listing Standards for Crypto ETPs
• Bitwise predicts dozens of new ETPs by the end of the year
• ETPs Could Make Solana, XRP, and Chainlink More Accessible

Matt Hougan, chief investment officer at asset manager Bitwise, stated that the generic listing standards being considered by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) could trigger what he called an "ETPalooza" for cryptocurrencies. In his analysis, such changes have the potential to accelerate the launch of exchange-traded products (ETPs) linked to various digital assets.

“Watching the cryptocurrency market right now is like watching the Super Bowl pregame,”

wrote Hougan in note to customers . For him, interest rate cuts, the entry of new ETPs, growing concerns about the dollar, and advances in tokenization and stablecoins create conditions for a significant recovery at the end of the year.

Currently, each new cryptocurrency ETP must go through an individual registration process with the SEC, which can take up to 240 days. This slows down launches and does not guarantee approval. Generic listing standards would change the process: issuers could launch products as long as they meet predefined criteria, such as the existence of regulated futures markets on exchanges like the CME and CBOE. This structure would reduce the approval time to about 75 days.

According to Hougan, once these standards are implemented, assets like Solana, XRP, Chainlink, Cardano, Avalanche, Polkadot, Hedera, Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash could gain their own ETPs in the US. This would make these tokens easily accessible in brokerage accounts, increasing their visibility among institutional and retail investors.

The experience with traditional ETFs serves as a comparison. When the SEC implemented the so-called "ETF Rule" in 2019, the number of annual launches tripled, rising from about 117 to 370. Bitwise believes a similar effect should occur in the cryptocurrency sector.

Despite this, Hougan acknowledged that simply creating more ETPs doesn't guarantee capital flow. He cited the case of Ethereum ETPs, which only gained prominence months after their launch in 2024, when demand for stablecoins surged. Still, new products lower barriers to entry and make digital assets more poised to capture future interest.

"The SEC's adoption of generic listing standards represents a coming-of-age moment for cryptocurrencies, a sign that we've reached the top," Hougan said. "But it's also just the beginning."