Grayscale Withdraws Cardano, Polkadot and Hedera ETF Filings

Grayscale Investments has withdrawn the registration statements for three proposed single-asset exchange-traded funds tied to Cardano’s $ADA, Polkadot’s $DOT and Hedera’s $HBAR. The asset manager submitted three Form RW requests to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Aug. 7, telling the regulator it “does not intend to proceed with the planned distribution” of the trusts’ shares, according to the SEC filing.

The withdrawals were sponsor-initiated under Rule 477 of the Securities Act of 1933, not the result of a formal SEC rejection. Grayscale said no securities had been issued or sold under the registrations, which had not yet become effective.

Sponsor-initiated, not a rejection

Because Grayscale chose to pull the filings before the SEC reached a decision, the move signals a change in the firm’s product priorities rather than a regulatory defeat. Grayscale gave no detailed explanation in the filings, which simply stated that the sponsor no longer intends to proceed.

The S-1 registration statements had been filed in late August and early September 2025 amid a broad wave of altcoin ETF applications. All three underlying tokens have fallen sharply since then, with $DOT down the most on a year-to-date basis.

The broader altcoin ETF retreat

The withdrawals are part of a wider cooling in the single-asset altcoin ETF category. Bitwise earlier withdrew a registration for a proposed Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF, and competition for inflows into smaller altcoin funds has intensified. Year to date, $ADA has fallen more than 41%, $DOT has lost about 54% and $HBAR has shed roughly 35%, according to market data cited in coverage of the withdrawals.

Grayscale continues to operate a portfolio of roughly 17 ETF products, including its Bitcoin Mini Trust and Ethereum Staking Mini ETF.

What it means for the pipeline

Dropping three altcoin funds narrows Grayscale’s proposed single-token pipeline and reflects a more selective approach to products whose demand has not matched the filings made a year ago. For issuers, the retreat suggests the next wave of ETF filings will favor assets with clearer institutional demand rather than breadth for its own sake. The firm can re-file if market conditions change.