Canary Capital Files to List TRUMP Spot ETF

Crypto fund manager Canary Capital filed Tuesday to list a spot ETF directly focused on President Donald Trump’s meme coin, TRUMP, marking a first for Wall Street.

While two other ETF providers applied earlier this year to list TRUMP exchange-traded funds under the Investment Company Act of 1940—resulting in indirect exposure through a Cayman Islands subsidiary—the Canary ETF application was filed under the Securities Act of 1933.

This means that the Canary TRUMP Coin ETF, if approved, would be directly exposed to Trump’s meme coin, with a reserve of TRUMP tokens held under strict custody requirements, likely within the U.S.

Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas expressed skepticism about the SEC’s approval of the application, noting that typically, a non-security asset underlying a spot ETF must first be traded as a futures ETF for at least six months. Currently, no TRUMP futures products have been traded for that duration.

Despite this, Balchunas suggested that TRUMP might eventually be included in a more diversified ETF offered by Canary under the 1940 Company Act.

The SEC faces challenges in evaluating Canary’s application, especially following nuanced directions from President Trump on crypto projects. SEC commissioner Hester Peirce previously indicated that the token likely does not fall under their jurisdiction.

In a subsequent statement, the SEC declared that meme coins are not considered securities, placing them outside of the agency’s oversight.

If the SEC approves the formal integration of Trump’s meme token with Wall Street, it would be a significant historical development, especially since the token has lost over 70% of its value since its January launch.

Analysts expect that the SEC will likely approve other meme coin ETF applications before the year’s end, although recent decisions on several applications have been postponed.