KEY POINTS
- $HBAR trading volumes surged by 270% in the last 24 hours amid news of Canary's filing
- Canary said it believes in the Hedera Network's 'enterprise-led structure' in its governance
- Canary Capital previously filed to issue $XRP, $LTC, and $SOL ETFs
Cryptocurrency investment firm Canary Capital has filed to issue a Hedera (HBAR) exchange-traded fund (ETF), marking the first time such a fund has been floated in the growing crypto ETF realm.
Canary said in its Tuesday filing that the trust's investment goal is to "seek to provide exposure to the value of the native asset of the Hedera Network."
News of the filing pumped Hedera prices and more importantly, drove HBAR token trading activity. Data from CoinMarketCap shows that trading volume surged to a staggering 270% in the last 24 hours. At one point Tuesday night, HBAR prices increased by 20%.
Why Canary Wants to Issue an $HBAR ETF
In its Tuesday filing, Canary provided a detailed presentation about the risks, potential benefits and operations of the Hedera network and its native crypto asset, HBAR, including some key highlights of the energy-efficient cryptocurrency and the technology it runs on.
- Potential use case in the service sector over time – The filing noted that as more people use the Hedera network, it is anticipated that "service providers will expand the currently available range of services and that additional parties will enter the service sector for the Hedera Network."
- HBAR's two main purposes – The filing also highlighted the HBAR token's two key purposes: a mechanism to secure the networks against cyberattacks and a "fuel" to incentivize and pay for computing resources to power the Hedera network.
- Trust in Hedera's governance – Canary said it believes that the network's "enterprise-led structure" reduces the risks of "ideological or personal disputes" that have caused significant problems in the governance systems of other public distributed ledger technology (DLT) networks.
Crypto Community Celebrates Big Move
The crypto community on X is ecstatic over the development, with some key figures in the industry welcoming the possibility of the world's first ever HBAR ETF.
One user said it's great to see "Hedera get the recognition" it has worked hard to achieve since launching in 2018. Another user said that Canary's filing suggests "the big boys want in and can see value where retail are looking at memes."
Since the first spot Bitcoin ETFs were approved, a growing number of traditional financial institutions started building up their crypto portfolios, signaling a wave of institutional interest.
For ETF Store President Nate Geraci, Canary's latest move could indicate how ETF issuers view the entry of a new administration. "This is a very early indication of how significantly some ETF issuers expect the crypto regulatory winds to shift," he said.
For one crypto user, Hedera has always been "built for institutions" and was designed to "bridge Web2 and Web3." The same user said "Hedera outperforms eth (Ethereum) in every vertical."
Canary Leads the Way in Crypto ETF Applications
Before its HBAR ETF filing, Canary already filed S-1 forms for XRP, Litecoin (LTC), and Solana (SOL), spreading out its crypto ETF portfolio as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to lead the White House for a second time.
The Republican frontrunner's landslide victory over Vice President Kamala Harris and the wins of many pro-crypto Congress candidates raised hopes for a government that will be more accommodating to the crypto space.
Canary is apparently riding the shifting tides, but it remains to be seen whether other crypto investment firms and traditional institutions will follow suit in Canary's distributed strategy.
