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Do We Need Easy ETPs?

Olivia Capozzalo & Camila Russo
September 18, 2025

gm, Defiers!

Today’s big story:

  • The SEC approved generic listing standards that would make launching spot crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs) easier

In other news:

Read more below! But first, please give our sponsors some love; they make this newsletter possible.

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📈 Markets Rally After Fed Meeting, BTC Regains $117K

TICKERVALUE24H
BitcoinBitcoin$117,741
1.75 %
EthereumEthereum$4,619.67
3.06 %
XRPXRP$3.12
3.32 %
BNBBNB$993.64
4.47 %
SolanaSolana$252.42
8.00 %

Today’s Big Story

SEC Hands Exchanges the Keys to Crypto ETPs

The Securities and Exchange Commission just handed crypto markets their biggest regulatory shortcut yet. On Sept. 17, the SEC approved generic listing standards for commodity-based trust shares — a type of exchange-traded product (ETP) — that now explicitly includes digital assets.

This sounds technical, but the implications are massive. Until now, every single crypto ETP proposal had to slog through bespoke SEC review. That’s why it took years of denials before spot Bitcoin ETPs finally got approved in January 2024. Now, if an exchange wants to list a crypto trust that fits within the new “generic standards,” it can skip the Commission altogether. No more waiting months for Washington to bless a product.

Faster, Cheaper Listings

The immediate impact is speed. Issuers like Grayscale, BlackRock, and Bitwise can bring new products to market faster and at lower cost. Exchanges like Cboe, Nasdaq, and NYSE can pad their listing revenue and boost trading volumes. The pipeline suddenly looks wide open, not just for Bitcoin and Ethereum, but for baskets of tokens and even single-asset ETPs tied to Solana, XRP, or Cardano. Grayscale’s Digital Large Cap Fund, which tracks an index of five major crypto assets, became the first to win approval under this new regime.

The change means investors are likely to see a surge of new choices. Today, U.S. investors can trade spot Bitcoin ETPs and, as of earlier this year, spot Ether ETPs. But Europe and Canada already have a smorgasbord of crypto exchange-traded products. With the SEC’s move, the U.S. is finally catching up. Investors will be able to buy diversified baskets, thematic crypto indices, or even targeted single-asset products through the same brokerage accounts they use for equities.

Exchanges Now in the Driver’s Seat

The SEC has effectively outsourced the gatekeeping role to exchanges themselves. It’s now up to Cboe, Nasdaq, and NYSE to decide whether a crypto trust meets the standards: transparent pricing, qualified custody, surveillance-sharing agreements, and liquidity thresholds. The Commission can still step in after the fact, but the day-to-day review is no longer its job.

That makes some people nervous — including Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw, who blasted the move as “passing the buck.” She argues exchanges have every incentive to approve as many listings as possible: more products mean more fees and trading activity. In other words, the watchdog role is shifting from a regulator whose mandate is investor protection, to businesses whose mandate is profit.

The new standards will ripple outward. Custodians like Coinbase Custody and Fidelity Digital Assets will see growing demand. Index providers such as CoinDesk Indices and CF Benchmarks suddenly become critical infrastructure. Stablecoin issuers like Circle could feel pressure if investors can access crypto exposure directly through regulated ETPs instead of on-chain dollar tokens. Offshore exchanges may lose market share to U.S. brokerages as investors migrate to products with the comfort of SEC disclosure rules.

The Risks

Of course, faster listings carry risks. We could see a flood of poorly structured altcoin products with low liquidity and wide spreads. Exchanges could stretch the rules to bring fringe tokens to market. If something blows up, the SEC may be forced to crack down after the fact, adding new layers of uncertainty. Investor safeguards are shifting from proactive oversight to reactive enforcement.

Still, the larger point is this: investors should be able to make their own decisions. If gold, silver, and oil ETPs can trade under generic standards, crypto should too.

Yes, this rule change means more products will hit the market, and not all of them will be winners. Some will be poorly designed, others outright flops. But that’s what markets are for, to let investors vote with their wallets. The alternative is Washington deciding what’s too dangerous for you to touch.

With this move, the SEC is finally stepping back and letting exchanges, and ultimately investors, drive. And that’s exactly where the wheel belongs.

With love,

Cami, founder of The Defiant

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