SEC’s Fast-Track Listing Standards Signal New Era for Crypto ETFs

Decision Cuts Approval Timelines and Expands Pathways for Digital Asset Funds

U.S. regulators have set the stage for a fundamental shift in how cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds come to market. On September 17–18, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission signed off on new generic listing standards that allow exchanges such as Nasdaq, NYSE Arca, and Cboe BZX to adopt a streamlined process for listing spot crypto ETFs and other commodity-based products. The decision trims a process that once stretched to 240 days down to as few as 75 days and clears a regulatory bottleneck that had defined the ETF landscape since the first bitcoin filing was introduced more than a decade ago.

The updated standards remove the need for exchanges to submit individual Rule 19b-4 filings for every new product, provided the funds meet specific criteria. Qualifying products must show that their underlying asset trades on a market with Intermarket Surveillance Group agreements, or that the asset has a regulated futures contract trading for at least six months, or that the asset is included in an existing ETF already listed on a national exchange with at least 40 percent exposure. 

This framework is expected to usher in a rapid expansion of new offerings, with Solana, XRP, and Dogecoin widely seen as likely early candidates. The SEC’s approval of the Grayscale Digital Large Cap Fund under these new standards—currently weighted roughly 80 percent toward bitcoin, 11 percent toward ether, and smaller positions in Solana, Cardano, and XRP—illustrates how quickly products can now move forward.

The move marks a break from years of case-by-case evaluations that often dragged on for months and left more than 90 crypto ETF applications in limbo earlier this year. Exchanges first submitted proposals for the generic standards at the end of July, prompting the SEC to find “good cause” to accelerate approval rather than waiting for the usual Federal Register timeline to run its course. Chairman Paul Atkins described the policy change as an effort to “maximize investor choice and foster innovation by streamlining the listing process and reducing barriers to access digital asset products within America’s trusted capital markets.” He added that U.S. exchanges must remain “the best place in the world to engage in the cutting-edge innovation of digital assets.”

Industry figures quickly underscored the significance. Bitwise President Teddy Fusaro called the change “a watershed moment in America’s regulatory approach to digital assets, overturning more than a decade of precedent since the first bitcoin ETF filing in 2013.” His colleague Matt Hougan, the firm’s chief investment officer, suggested the new standards could “blow the market wide open.” Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart echoed the sentiment, calling the rules “the crypto ETP framework we’ve been waiting for.” 

Still, not all voices were celebratory. Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw issued a warning that the fast-tracked regime may allow products to launch without adequate investor protections in place, highlighting the trade-offs regulators face between efficiency and caution.

By clearing away the long-standing procedural hurdles, the SEC has effectively opened the floodgates for a new generation of digital asset ETFs, reshaping the speed and scope of access to the U.S. capital markets. Analysts expect a wave of filings and product launches in the months ahead, as asset managers seize on the newly standardized pathway to bring crypto funds to mainstream investors.

This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.