Canary Capital Seeks SEC Approval for First Sei ETF With Staking

Crypto funds issuer Canary Capital has applied for the first exchange-traded fund based on the performance of SEI, the token of the Sei layer-1 blockchain, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday.

The Canary Staked Sei ETF includes staking, allowing investors to earn extra yield on their investment.

“The Trust’s investment objective is to…..provide exposure to the price of Sei held by the Trust,” the filing said. “A secondary investment objective is for the Trust to earn additional SEI through the validation of transactions in the SEI Network’s proof-of-stake process.”

Crypto staking is the process of pledging proof-of-stake coins or tokens to a network to help it function in exchange for rewards. 

Canary’s filings adds to its growing list of applications for altcoin-focused funds, including ETFs based on Litecoin, Pengu and Sui. 

SEI is the 85th biggest cryptocurrency by market cap. SEI was recently trading for little over $0.225, after jumping 7% in 24 hours, CoinGecko data shows.

Top asset managers have been trying their luck with regulators since U.S. President Donald Trump—who campaigned to slash regulation and help the crypto space—entered the White House. 

Under former Chair Gary Gensler, the SEC was reluctant to approve spot Bitcoin ETFs. But when the regulator finally gave the products the green light in early 2024, they had the most successful launch in ETF history. 

The SEC also approved Ethereum ETFs last year—though they haven’t experienced the same level of trading action as their Bitcoin counterparts. Still, fund managers are hoping to get funds approved that would track the price of digital coins like Solana, Dogecoin, and XRP. 

Edited by James Rubin