Altcoins

On March 2, President Donald Trump mentioned Cardano’s ADA (ADA) token among the cryptocurrencies to be included in the US strategic crypto reserve. Trump’s March 6 executive order clarified that altcoins would be part of the Digital Asset Stockpile (DAS) under the “responsible stewardship” of the Treasury.

ADA’s potential inclusion in a government-managed portfolio sparked industry-wide surprise and, at times, harsh criticism. Although it has loyal investors who have supported it for years, many in the crypto community questioned why the token was included in the digital asset stockpile.

Let’s analyze the blockchain to see if ADA’s fundamentals and utility support its place in the US Digital Asset Stockpile.

The case for ADA in the US Digital Asset Stockpile

Launched in 2017 via an ICO, Cardano is one of the oldest smart contract platforms. It differs from others through its research-driven design approach and its use of a delegated proof-of-stake mechanism combined with an extended UTXO accounting model.

Cardano’s ambition as a smart contract platform is well captured by X ‘Cardano_whale,’ who outlined the blockchain’s “non-negligible fees, voting power, decentralized consensus, all native token trading paired with it.”

The X post emphasizes ADA’s utility (something “most VC coins lack”) along with Cardano’s decentralized governance as key advantages.

Indeed, Cardano’s Project Catalyst is one of the largest decentralized funding initiatives in crypto. Through it, treasury funds from transaction fees and inflation are allocated democratically to community proposals. Also, unlike the Ethereum network, which still relies on offchain governance for major upgrades, Cardano aims to transition entirely to onchain governance.

The Plomin hard fork that took place on Jan. 29 marked the transition to “full decentralized governance,” according to the Cardano Foundation. It grants ADA holders “real voting power—on parameter changes, treasury withdrawals, hard forks, and the blockchain’s future.”

Cardano’s native coin, ADA, is used for network fees, staking, and governance. Its maximum supply is 45 billion, with 31 billion initially distributed—26 billion sold in the public sale and 5 billion allocated to IOHK, Emurgo, and the Cardano Foundation. 

The remaining 14 billion ADA were reserved for gradual release through minting. With 0.3% of ADA reserves distributed as rewards every five days, ADA inflation declines as reserves deplete. The current inflation rate is approximately 4%, with a circulating supply of 35.95 billion ADA.

While a capped supply can support a coin’s value and justify its inclusion in the DAS, other ADA metrics, such as fees and staking yields, lag far behind competitors. 

Should Cardano’s lagging activity raise concerns?

Despite its years in the smart contract ecosystem, Cardano has struggled to generate enough activity to establish itself among the leaders. As a result, ADA’s limited usage within the crypto ecosystem raises concerns about its long-term value.

According to Messari’s Q4 2024 State of Cardano report, the blockchain processed an average of 71,500 daily transactions, with 42,900 daily active addresses. Quarterly fees totaled $1.8 million, a stark contrast to Ethereum’s $552 million in fees over the same period, according to CoinGecko.

Cardano’s annualized real staking yield, adjusted for inflation, was approximately 0.7% in Q4, compared to Ethereum’s 2.73%.

Related: Crypto fans are obsessed with longevity and biohacking: Here’s why

Other blockchain activity metrics reinforce the concern about adding ADA into a government portfolio:

• With 449 developers working on the blockchain, Cardano ranks 12th among blockchains in developer count, according to Electric Capital’s report.

• Its stablecoins’ share is just 0.01% of the total $224 billion stablecoin market cap, per DefiLlama.

• Cardano’s DeFi ecosystem is underdeveloped, accounting for just 0.3% of the total $169 billion DeFi sector. However, if we include its core staking, which does not require locking and therefore is not counted in the TVL, Cardano’s share will grow to 12%.

• Cardano’s DApp activity remains low compared to other smart contract platforms. In Q4, it averaged just 14,300 daily DApp transactions—well outside the top 25 and a fraction of Solana’s 22 million. Even more concerning is its 73% decline from Q4 2023, when Cardano recorded 52,700 daily transactions. Such a sharp drop signals a troubling trend for a blockchain that is still in its growth phase.

Is ADA’s potential enough to justify a US government investment?

The case for ADA in the strategic crypto reserve is far less clear than for Ethereum and Solana, which are leading blockchains in many different categories. Cardano’s low activity, limited adoption, and weak staking incentives raise serious doubts about ADA’s suitability for a government-managed asset pool.

On the other hand, ADA’s capped supply and Cardano’s focus on decentralization give it a unique edge over competitors. They could lead to greater adoption and relevance in the long run.

Furthermore, projects like those by Atrium Lab are exploring Cardano’s native compatibility with Bitcoin through the eUTXO system, which could potentially unlock a new framework for DeFi on Bitcoin and drive activity to Cardano.

Could this possibility be enough to justify ADA’s place in the digital asset stockpile?

As David Nage, the portfolio manager of the venture capital firm Arca, put it, 

“Like the rest of crypto, the Cardano ecosystem needs to find and support developers to create products and applications that millions of people enjoy and depend on. Then, they need brilliant storytellers to solidify the narrative behind it to build mass, sustainable audiences. After all that, putting ADA into a US national reserve begins to make more sense, in my opinion. It can be done.”

This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

Solana futures (SOL) on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) went live on March 17, with a trading volume of $12.1 million on day 1, which fell short compared to Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum’s (ETH) CME futures debut.

Vetle Lunde, Head of Research at K33Research, compared the difference between Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and Solana (SOL) CME futures trading performances on their launch day, and it is clear that SOL’s CME futures volume and open interest came in far below its competitors.

However, Lunde pointed out that if normalized volumes to the market cap are evaluated, SOL’s launch “aligns closer to the two.”

Was the SOL CME futures launch a dud?

Throughout the current bull market, spot ETF approvals and CME futures contract launches have consistently boosted investor sentiment and put wind behind the sails of various cryptocurrencies. Comparing the normalized volumes adjusted for the market cap differences of BTC, ETH and SOL on their first CME futures trading day provides a fairer comparative analysis.

Normalized volume measures trading activity relative to a crypto asset’s market cap, offering a transparent evaluation across different cryptocurrencies. This metric is valuable since it allows an understanding of institutional engagement with respect to a crypto asset’s market cap.

As shown above, Bitcoin has the highest normalized volume with 0.0319%, while ETH and SOL fell behind with 0.0173% and 0.0166%, respectively. A greater normalized volume suggests higher investor interest per unit or market cap for Bitcoin.

Additionally, the similarity between ETH’s and SOL’s normalized volumes (roughly 0.017%) indicates that Solana’s trading activity scale is similar to Ether’s despite the trading volume differences of more than $20 million on day 1 between ETH and SOL’s CME futures.

Related: Solana deletes ‘cringe’ ad criticized for being ‘tone deaf’ on gender issues

Will SOL CME futures follow ETH or BTC’s performance?

Following the debut of Bitcoin CME futures on Dec. 18, 2017, BTC declined by 26%, dropping from $19,000 to $14,000 by Dec. 31, 2017. The correction continued into 2018, marking the beginning of a collective crypto bear market.

Ether price registered a rally of 150% to a new all-time high at $4,384, 93 days after the CME futures launch on Feb. 8, 2021. Following a new all-time high, a sharp correction occurred, but the altcoin rallied again toward the end of 2021 to attain its current all-time high at $4,867 in November 2021.

Considering the price trends of Bitcoin and ETH, SOL’s price may experience a less enthusiastic rally. The absence of upward price movement after its CME futures launch suggests a lack of investor excitement.

However, from a long-term perspective, SOL’s presence in the CME increases the opportunities for Solana’s liquidity and price discovery as it attracts institutional engagement. A wider impact could potentially unfold over time as better market conditions and favorable bullish price and protocol revenue projections draw traders’ interest.

Related: Bitcoin stalls under $85K— Key BTC price levels to watch ahead of FOMC

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

Ethereum’s native token, Ether (ETH), has ventured into oversold territory multiple times against Bitcoin (BTC) in recent months, but the altcoin has yet to show any signs of finding a price bottom. The trading situation is actually quite similar to a previous scenario, and ETH’s market structure suggests that it could repeat itself in Q2 to Q3 of this year.

Ether’s repeat breakdowns point to more downside

The relative strength index (RSI) on ETH’s 3-day timeframe remains below 30, a level that typically signals a potential bounce.

However, historical patterns show that previous dips into oversold conditions have failed to mark a definitive bottom. Each instance has been followed by another leg lower, reflecting persistent bearish momentum.

Since mid-2024, the ETH/BTC pair has undergone repeat breakdowns, with losses of around 13%, 21%, 25%, and 19.5% occurring in rapid succession. Moreover, the 50-day and 200-day EMAs are trending lower, confirming the lack of bullish strength.

X-based market analyst @CarpeNoctom highlighted ETH’s negative price performance, noting that the ETH/BTC pair has failed to confirm a bullish divergence—when the price makes lower lows but the RSI makes higher lows—on its weekly chart.

ETH ETF outflows and onchain data hint at further weakness

The “cursed” ETH/BTC downtrend stands out when compared to the broader crypto market. This includes persistent outflows witnessed across the US-based spot ETH ETFs, as well as negative onchain data.

The net flows into the spot Ether ETFs have dropped 9.8% in March to $2.54 billion. In comparison, the spot Bitcoin ETF net flows are down 2.35% in the same period to $35.74 billion.

Meanwhile, Ethereum’s gas fees—measured by daily median gas consumption on mainnet—were sitting around 1.12 GWEI as of March, down by nearly 50 times what they were just a year ago.

“Despite the second rally of ETH price into 2024 year end, activity on mainnet as measured by gas consumption never fully recovered,” data analytics platform Nansen wrote in its latest report, adding:

“This is downstream of a few things but much of the activity has shifted to Solana and L2s over 2024.”

Nansen argued that they remain cautiously bearish on ETH due to its unfavorable risk/reward ratio compared to BTC and lower-valued altcoins with niche market focus.

A lack of demand for ETH relative to Bitcoin is further visible in its future volume data.

Notably, Bitcoin futures volume has rebounded 32% from its Feb. 23 lows, reaching $57 billion on March 18. In comparison, ETH’s trading activity remains mostly flat, according to onchain data platform Glassnode.

The ETH/BTC pair could drop another 15%

ETH/BTC pair is forming a bear pennant pattern on the daily chart, characterized by a period of consolidation within converging trendlines forming after a steep decline.

Related: Standard Chartered drops 2025 ETH price estimate by 60% to $4K

A bear pennant technically resolves when the price drops below the lower trendline and falls by as much as the previous downtrend’s height. Applying the same rule on ETH/BTC brings its downside target for April to 0.01968 BTC, down 15% from the current levels.

Furthermore, the 50-day and 200-day EMAs remain in a sharp downward trajectory, with the ETH/BTC pair trading far below these key levels, signaling a persistent bear market structure.

Despite the looming downside risk, a bullish invalidation could occur if ETH/BTC breaks above the pennant’s upper resistance and flips the 50-day EMA into support.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood believes the White House is underestimating the recession risk facing the US economy stemming from US President Donald Trump’s tariff policies — an oversight that will eventually force the president and Federal Reserve to enact pro-growth policies.

Speaking virtually at the Digital Asset Summit in New York on March 18, Wood said US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent isn’t worried about a recession. 

However, Wood said, “We are worried about a recession,” adding, “We think the velocity of money is slowing down dramatically.”

A slowdown in the velocity of money means capital is changing hands less frequently, which is typically associated with a recession, as consumers and businesses spend and invest less money. 

“I think what’s happening, though, is that if we do have a recession, declining GDP, that this is going to give the president and the Fed many more degrees of freedom to do what they want in terms of tax cuts and monetary policy,” said Wood. 

Investors believe the first domino could fall in the coming months when the Fed puts an end to its quantitative tightening program — something bettors on Polymarket believe is 100% certain to happen before May.

Meanwhile, expectations for multiple rate cuts by the Fed in the second half of the year are growing, according to CME Group’s Fed Fund futures prices.

Related: As Trump tanks Bitcoin, PMI offers a roadmap of what comes next

Focus remains long term

ARK and Cathie Wood have been active cryptocurrency investors for many years. ARK and 21Shares’ spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) was approved on Jan. 11, 2024, and currently has more than $3.9 billion in net assets, according to Yahoo Finance data. 

ARK also offers crypto portfolio solutions to wealth managers through its partnership with Eaglebrook Advisors. 

Wood told the New York Digital Asset Summit that “long-term innovation wins as we go through these trials and tribulations,” referring to the recent market correction. 

When asked if crypto assets remain an “investable arc” over the long term, Wood said this strategy was the cornerstone of ARK’s investment approach. 

“[W]e’ve built out positions in more than just the big three,” she said, referring to Bitcoin, Ether (ETH) and Solana (SOL).

This long-term arc is being supported by favorable regulations, which have improved the investment landscape dramatically. 

Pro-crypto policy changes are “giving institutions the green light, and if you look at our studies as long ago as 2016, we wrote a paper called ‘Bitcoin: Ringing the Bell for a New Asset Class,’ and, yet many institutions just dismissed it out of hand,” said Wood.

Now, institutions are looking at ARK’s studies and saying they “have a fiduciary responsibility to expose [their] clients to a new asset class.”

Magazine: Bitcoin ETFs make Coinbase a ‘honeypot’ for hackers and governments — Trezor CEO

Dogecoin (DOGE) price has crashed by over 70% after hitting $0.48 in December 2024. Interestingly, the memecoin’s richest holders have accumulated during the price declines, indicating their confidence in a potential rebound in the coming weeks.

Dogecoin onchain metrics hint at price rebound

Onchain data from Santiment shows that wallets holding at least 1 million DOGE have increased by 1.24% since early February, despite declining prices. Meanwhile, active addresses have surged to a four-month high, suggesting rising network activity.

Typically, when large holders accumulate an asset while prices decline, it signals that they see undervaluation and are positioning for a future rebound.

An increase in active addresses indicates higher engagement on the network—possibly reflecting growing retail interest.

If this surge in user activity stems from real adoption rather than speculative trading or panic selling, it could provide the onchain foundation needed for a price recovery. A similar pattern was observed during the DOGE’s 200%-plus price rally in November.

DOGE is oversold, raising chances of 30% rally

Dogecoin is currently testing a support confluence comprising a multi-year ascending trendline support, a level that has historically triggered strong bullish reversals and the 200-week exponential moving average (200-week EMA) at around $0.13.

Additionally, the Stochastic RSI, an indicator measuring momentum and overbought/oversold conditions, shows a bullish cross in the oversold region (below the 0.30 reading).

This signal typically indicates that selling pressure is weakening. In DOGE’s case, this crossover at low levels has preceded strong price recoveries, notably a 400% price rally in 2024 and 88% gains in 2023.

Related: Crypto market is seeing a ‘tactical retreat, not a reversal’ — Binance CEO

The first major resistance level lies near $0.22, aligning with DOGE’s 50-week exponential moving average (50-week EMA; the red wave) and the March-April 2024 resistance area, as shown below.

However, if DOGE fails to hold the support confluence, the bullish setup could be invalidated, leading to a deeper correction toward $0.12, which served as support in the March-May 2024 period.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

Bitcoin (BTC) dominance, a measure of Bitcoin’s overall share of the crypto market, has been steadily rising since 2023 amid a torrent of new cryptocurrency coins and tokens.

The current BTC market dominance is roughly 61.6%, down from the local peak of 64.3% recorded on Feb. 3.

BTC market dominance broke back above 60% on Feb. 2 amid a general market downturn over fears of a prolonged trade war between the United States and its trading partners.

Macroeconomic uncertainty typically takes a toll on risk-on assets, and the recent market downturn hit altcoins harder than BTC due to their lower liquidity and higher-risk profiles.

The current market cycle also features Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which silo liquidity into these financial instruments — preventing capital rotation into altcoins, which crypto traders and investors have become accustomed to.

Previous cycles were characterized by investors rotating profits from less risky assets such as BTC into progressively higher-risk investments, starting with high market cap altcoins and eventually working their way into smaller cap tokens.

The liquidity siloed in traditional investment vehicles coupled with the proliferation of new coins and tokens competing for limited investor attention and capital has led some analysts to suggest that altcoin season is now a thing of the past and will not be a feature of the current or future market cycles.

Related: Bitcoin poised to reclaim $90,000, according to derivatives metrics

Too many tokens have saturated the market

The total number of cryptocurrency tokens and coins listed on CoinMarketCap on Feb. 8 was below 11 million unique assets, as of March 15 the number of digital assets listed on the website has surged to over 12.7 million.

Over 600,000 tokens were launched in January 2025 alone. The vast majority of these assets were memecoins created on fair launch platforms and low-cap altcoins.

According to market analyst Jesse Myers, when these coins fail, they do not go to $0. Instead, they linger around market capitalizations of $10,000 to $100,000 — permanently trapping capital inside illiquid pools.

The proliferation of new tokens and digital assets prompted Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong to reevaluate the exchange’s token listing process to meet consumer demand.

Magazine: DeFi will rise again after memecoins die down: Sasha Ivanov, X Hall of Flame

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

Robinhood has launched a betting markets hub as the online brokerage — best known for stock trading — expands its presence in emergent asset classes, including cryptocurrencies and event contracts, according to a March 17 announcement. 

Robinhood’s stock, HOOD, rose roughly 8% on the Nasdaq after the announcement, according to data from Google Finance.

The new betting feature will let users “trade contracts for what the upper bound of the target fed funds rate will be in May, as well as the upcoming men’s and women’s College Basketball Tournaments,” it said. 

The online brokerage is tapping Kalshi, the US’ first CFTC-regulated prediction platform, to operate the event contract platform, it said. 

Kalshi is already registered to list dozens of event contracts, covering outcomes ranging from election results to Rotten Tomatoes movie ratings.

Prediction markets “play an important role at the intersection of news, economics, politics, sports, and culture,” JB Mackenzie, vice president and general manager of futures and international at Robinhood, said in a statement. 

Experts say political betting markets often capture public sentiment more accurately than polls. Platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket accurately predicted US President Donald Trump’s November election win even as polls indicated a tossup.

Related: Robinhood tips Singapore launch, touts memecoin interest: Report

Rising popularity

Prediction markets have become increasingly popular in the US since September 2024, when Kalshi prevailed in a lawsuit challenging a CFTC decision to bar it from listing political event contracts.

By November, trading volumes across popular prediction markets neared $4 billion for contracts tied to the US elections.

Robinhood tested the waters of political event contracts in October when it started letting certain users bet on the outcome of the presidential election between former Vice President Kamala Harris and Trump.

In February, Robinhood suspended Super Bowl betting after receiving a request from the CFTC to nix its customers’ access to the event contracts.

Beyond stock trading

Robinhood has been expanding its footprint in emerging asset classes, including cryptocurrencies and derivatives. 

On March 13, the company listed memecoins like Pengu (PENGU), Pnut (PNUT) and Popcat (POPCAT) in a bid to expand its presence in crypto. Back in January, it rolled out futures contracts tied to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC).

Robihood’s latest earnings report shows the firm posted a 700% year-over-year jump in crypto revenues in the fourth quarter of 2024 as Trump’s election win and rising market prices fueled boosted crypto trading.

X Hall of Flame: Memecoins will die and DeFi will rise again — Sasha Ivanov 

Ripple’s XRP (XRP), the third-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, gained national recognition after President Donald Trump mentioned the “valuable cryptocurrency” alongside BTC, ETH, SOL, and ADA as part of a planned US strategic crypto reserve.

Trump’s executive order on March 6 established a new structure for the altcoins — the Digital Asset Stockpile, managed by the Treasury. 

While the crypto community remains divided on whether XRP is truly as valuable as President Trump suggests, a closer look at the altcoin’s utility is warranted. 

XRP’s potential role in banking

Launched in 2012 by Ripple Labs, the XRP Ledger (XRPL) was designed for interbank settlements. It initially offered three enterprise solutions: xRapid, xCurrent, and xVia, all later rebranded under the RippleNet umbrella. XCurrent is real-time messaging and settlement between banks, xVia is a payment interface allowing financial institutions to send payments through RippleNet, and xRapid, now part of On-Demand Liquidity (ODL), facilitates cross-border transactions.

Only ODL actually requires XRP; the other services allow banks to use RippleNet without ever holding the token. This means bank adoption of Ripple technology does not always drive XRP’s price.

Some of the world’s largest banks have used xCurrent and xVia, including American Express, Santander, Bank of America, and UBS. There is less data on the entities that use XRP-powered ODL service. Known adopters include SBI Remit, a major Japanese remittance provider, and Tranglo, a leading remittance company in Southeast Asia.

XRP’s role in Web3

XRP is also used as a gas token. However, unlike the Ethereum network, where fees go to validators, a small amount of XRP is burned as an anti-spam mechanism.

XRP’s role in Web3 is minimal. Unlike Ethereum, Ripple does not support complex smart contracts or DApps. It offers only basic Web3 functionality, such as a token issuance mechanism and native NFT support under the XLS-20 standard, introduced in 2022.

The XRPL Web3 ecosystem is small. Its modest DeFi sector holds $80 million in total value locked (TVL), according to DefiLlama. XRPL’s tokens have a combined market cap of $468 million, according to Xrpl.to. Most of them are DEX tokens (SOLO) and memes (XRPM), as well as wrapped BTC and stablecoins.

So far, XRPL’s Web3 sector remains niche and trails true smart contract platforms like Ethereum and Solana.

Related: SEC delays decision on XRP, Solana, Litecoin, Dogecoin ETFs

Crypto pundits split hairs on XRP’s role in a strategic reserve

Ripple Labs representatives have long advocated for equal treatment of cryptocurrencies, with CEO Brad Garlinghouse reiterating this on Jan. 27. 

Garlinghouse said,  

“We live in a multichain world, and I’ve advocated for a level-playing field instead of one token versus another. If a government digital asset reserve is created—I believe it should be representative of the industry, not just one token (whether it be BTC, XRP or anything else).”

However, not all cryptocurrencies serve the same purpose. Bitcoin’s primary role is to be a “geopolitically neutral asset like gold,” in the words of crypto analyst Willy Woo. XRP’s purpose remains less clear, but few in the crypto space would argue that it could qualify as independent money.

This is primarily due to one of Ripple’s most uncomfortable aspects—its permissioned nature. Unlike Bitcoin or Ethereum, Ripple does not rely on miners or staked tokens to secure the network. Instead, it uses a Unique Node List—a group of trusted validators responsible for approving transactions. While this optimizes speed and efficiency, it raises concerns about censorship, corruption, and security risks.

Bitcoin proponent and co-founder of Casa Jameson Lopp didn’t hold back when discussing XRP’s potential:

“There’s Bitcoin, then there’s Crypto, then there’s Ripple. Ripple has attacked Bitcoin at a level rivaled only by BSV’s lawsuits. Ripple explicitly wants to power CBDCs. They have always been focused on servicing banks. Few projects are as antithetical to Bitcoin.”

There’s no love lost between Bitcoiners and Ripple supporters, especially after Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen partnered with Greenpeace to fund an anti-Bitcoin campaign. 

However, Lopp’s comparison to CBDCs holds some weight, given XRPL’s permissioned nature. It reflects a common view in the crypto community that XRP functions more like a banking tool than a truly independent cryptocurrency.

While the XRPL blockchain sees widespread use in banking, XRP’s utility remains a point of concern. It is underscored by the fact that approximately 55% of the 100 billion pre-mined coins are still held by Ripple Labs. This concentration raises concerns about potential market manipulation and the coin’s long-term stability. 

This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

Asset manager Hashdex has amended its S-1 regulatory filing for its cryptocurrency index exchange-traded fund (ETF) to include seven altcoins in addition to Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), according to a March 14 filing. 

The revision proposes adding seven specific altcoins to the index ETF — Solana (SOL), XRP (XRP), Cardano (ADA), Chainlink (LINK), Avalanche (AVAX), Litecoin (LTC), and Uniswap (UNI). As of March 17, the Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index US ETF holds only Bitcoin and Ether.

Previous versions of Hashdex’s S-1 suggested the possibility of adding other cryptocurrencies in the future but didn’t specify which ones.

According to the filing, the proposed altcoins additions “are decentralized peer-to-peer computer systems that rely on public key cryptography for security, and their values are primarily influenced by market supply and demand.”

The revised filing signals how ETF issuers are accelerating planned crypto product rollouts now that US President Donald Trump has instructed federal regulators to take a more lenient stance on digital asset regulation. 

As part of the transition, the ETF plans to switch its reference index from the Nasdaq Crypto US Index — which only tracks BTC and ETH — to the more comprehensive Nasdaq Crypto Index, the filing said. 

The asset manager did not specify when it plans to make the change. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) must sign off on the proposed changes before they can take effect. 

Related: US crypto index ETFs off to slow start in first days since listing

Accelerating approvals

In December, the SEC gave the green light to both Hashdex and Franklin Templeton’s respective Bitcoin and Ether index ETFs. 

Both ETFs were listed in February, initially drawing relatively modest inflows, data shows. They are the first US ETFs aiming to offer investors a one-stop-shop diversified crypto index.

Asset manager Grayscale has also applied to convert its Grayscale Digital Large Cap Fund to an ETF. Created in 2018, the fund holds a crypto index portfolio comprising BTC, ETH, SOL and XRP, among others. 

Industry analysts say crypto index ETFs are the next big focus for issuers after ETFs holding BTC and ETH listed in January and July, respectively.

“The next logical step is index ETFs because indices are efficient for investors — just like how people buy the S&P 500 in an ETF. This will be the same in crypto,” Katalin Tischhauser, head of investment research at crypto bank Sygnum, told Cointelegraph in August.

In February, the SEC acknowledged more than a dozen exchange filings related to cryptocurrency ETFs, according to records.

The filings, submitted by Cboe and other exchanges, addressed proposed rule changes concerning staking, options, in-kind redemptions and new types of altcoin funds.

Magazine: US enforcement agencies are turning up the heat on crypto-related crime

Solana (SOL) futures traded for the first time on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group’s US derivatives exchange on March 17 as the cryptocurrency’s mainstream adoption gains momentum.

In February, CME tipped plans to list two types of SOL futures contracts: standard contracts representing 500 SOL and retail-friendly “micro” contracts representing 25 SOL each. 

They are the first regulated Solana futures to hit the US market after Coinbase’s launched in February. The contracts are settled in cash, not physical SOL.

On March 17, the contracts’ first trading day, SOL futures representing a notional value of nearly 40,000 SOL, or nearly $5 million at current prices, changed hands on the exchange, according to preliminary data from CME’s website.

Early pricing data indicates a potentially bearish sentiment on SOL among traders. The CME does not publish finalized data on daily trading volumes until the subsequent business day. 

The CME’s April futures contracts traded at a price of $127 per SOL — $2 per token less than contracts expiring in March, CME data shows. 

On March 16, trading firms FalconX and StoneX completed the first-ever SOL futures trade on CME, they said.

“Solana has come a long way in the last five years,” Chris Chung, founder of Solana-based swap platform Titan, told Cointelegraph on March 17.

“Solana futures are going live on the CME today, and SOL [exchange-traded funds] will surely follow shortly behind,” Chung said. 

Related: Solana CME futures tip impending US ETF approvals — Exec

ETF approval odds

On March 13, Chung told Cointelegraph he expects the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to approve asset managers VanEck and Canary Capital’s proposed spot Solana ETFs as soon as May.

At least five ETF issuers have filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to list spot Solana ETFs. The regulator has until October 2025 to make a final decision on the filings. 

Bloomberg Intelligence gauges the likelihood that SOL ETFs are ultimately approved at approximately 70%.

Futures contracts are standardized agreements to buy or sell an underlying asset at a future date. 

They are commonly used for hedging and speculation by retail and institutional investors. Futures also play a crucial supporting role for spot cryptocurrency ETFs because regulated futures markets provide a stable benchmark for measuring a digital asset’s performance.

CME already lists futures contracts for Bitcoin BTC and Ether ETH. US regulators approved ETFs for both of those cryptocurrencies last year.

Magazine: 5 real use cases for useless memecoins