XRP Rival Now in Pole Position After Nasdaq Files 19b-4 for HBAR ETF With SEC.

Nasdaq has submitted a 19b-4 filing for a Hedera spot ETF on behalf of Canary Capital, increasing its chances of approval.

Litecoin’s position as the most probable altcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) to receive regulatory approval faces intense competition from Hedera. This is because prominent stock exchange Nasdaq has just filed a rule change request for the Hedera spot ETF with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

On Monday, Nasdaq submitted a 19b-4 with the US SEC for Canary Capital, one of the newest asset managers. The investment product aims to provide alternative exposure to Hedera, the 16th largest cryptocurrency by market cap.

New Filing Echoes Progress

Bloomberg’s senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas confirmed the application in a tweet today. He suggested that the recent filing echoes a smooth approval process between Nasdaq, Canary, and the US SEC.

Canary just filed the 19b-4 for their HBAR ETF. This comes on heels of them amending S-1 last week (which means SEC gave comments which gives HBAR and Litecoin the best odds and the pole position among the current slew of alt coin ETF filings) pic.twitter.com/qxJIhEwBNY

— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) February 24, 2025

Balchunas highlighted that the filing shows that Nasdaq has made significant progress with the US SEC, reiterating the growing probability of its approval. Notably, today’s application came just three days after Nasdaq submitted an amended S-1 form for the product with the securities watchdog.

Meanwhile, the 19b-4 application decimates earlier concerns that Nasdaq filed the S-1 form without an initial request for a rule change. Furthermore, it sets the chances of a Canary Hederal spot ETF in the same cadre with Litecoin’s.

Odds of an HBAR and Litecoin ETFs Surge

With the application, Balchuanas has suggested that Litecoin and Hedera-based ETFs are now the most likely to get regulatory approval among other altcoins. This comes after the market expert stated in an earlier analysis that the chances the HBAR ETF will launch this year were insignificant.

Furthermore, the progress suggests that the ETF may launch earlier than ETFs of prominent assets like XRP and Solana. Regardless, following the recent acknowledgements from the US SEC, the chances of approval for the XRP and SOL ETFs remain relatively high.

Meanwhile, Hedera has reacted positively to the recent development, surging over 7% in an hour. At the time of writing, HBAR trades at $0.224, with its market cap nearing $10 billion.