United States of America: US Securities and Exchange Commission opened consultation on proposed rule change to list Canary Litecoin ETF (SR-NASDAQ-2025-005)

On 9 May 2025, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) opened a public consultation following its 5 May 2025 order instituting proceedings to evaluate Nasdaq Stock Market LLC’s proposed rule change (SR–NASDAQ–2025–005) to list and trade shares of the Canary Litecoin ETF under Nasdaq Rule 5711(d). The consultation period is open until 30 May 2025, followed by a rebuttal period ending on 13 June 2025. The proposed rule change seeks to permit the listing and trading of shares of the Trust, which aims to track the performance of Litecoin as measured by the CoinDesk Litecoin Price Index, with the Trust’s assets consisting solely of Litecoin and cash. Proceedings were initiated under Section 19(b)(2)(B) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to assess whether the proposal is consistent with Section 6(b)(5) of the Act, which requires, among other things, that exchange rules be designed to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices and to protect investors and the public interest. The SEC emphasised that the initiation of proceedings does not reflect any conclusions regarding the merits of the proposal.