Grayscale has withdrawn its registration statement for a planned spot Cardano ETF, ending its immediate push to launch a dedicated $ADA investment product in the United States.
In a filing with the U.S. SEC on August 7, Grayscale Investments Sponsors, LLC requested permission to withdraw the Form S-1 registration statement for the proposed Grayscale Cardano Trust ETF.
The asset manager explained that it no longer intends to proceed with the planned distribution of shares registered under the filing. Notably, Grayscale confirmed that the SEC had not declared the registration statement effective. Furthermore, the company said it had neither issued nor sold securities under the registration statement or the accompanying prospectus.
Withdrawal Comes Just Before $ADA’s ETF Eligibility Date
The timing of Grayscale’s decision stands out because it came just two days before Cardano reached a key milestone in the SEC’s streamlined spot ETF review framework.
Cardano was expected to reach its six-month ETF eligibility milestone on August 9, 2026. For context, CME Group launched regulated $ADA futures on February 9, 2026, giving Cardano a regulated futures market in the U.S.
The availability of regulated futures helped satisfy an important condition for the streamlined review of a potential spot $ADA ETF. Consequently, August 9 marked an important date in Cardano’s race for a U.S. spot ETF.
However, Grayscale withdrew its S-1 registration on August 7, just two days before $ADA reached that milestone.
SEC Review Ends as Grayscale Withdraws Application
Grayscale originally filed its Cardano ETF proposal in February 2025. A few weeks later, the SEC acknowledged the related NYSE 19b-4 filing, formally advancing the proposed listing through the regulatory process.
However, the application will no longer proceed under Grayscale’s current filing because the asset manager has withdrawn its registration statement.
Grayscale Also Withdraws Hedera and Polkadot ETF Filings
The Cardano withdrawal is not an isolated decision. Grayscale also submitted withdrawal filings for its proposed Hedera and Polkadot ETF products. As a result, the simultaneous withdrawals suggest that the asset manager may be reassessing several of its planned single-asset crypto ETF offerings.
Nonetheless, the Cardano decision carries particular significance because Grayscale had been the only asset manager seeking to launch a dedicated spot $ADA ETF in the United States.
The withdrawal temporarily removes the most prominent standalone Cardano ETF proposal from the U.S. regulatory pipeline.
$ADA Still Has Exposure Through Crypto Basket ETFs
Despite the withdrawal, investors can still gain indirect exposure to $ADA through several diversified crypto investment products.
For instance, Cardano is included in the Grayscale Smart Contract ETF, the Bitwise 10 Crypto Index ETF, and the Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index ETF. These products give investors exposure to $ADA alongside other digital assets.
However, a dedicated spot $ADA ETF would have provided a more direct investment vehicle for Cardano exposure without requiring investors to purchase and hold $ADA themselves.
