ETF analyst James Seyffart has announced that Canary Capital has amended its S-1 filing for a Litecoin ETF. This news is a big deal because this move indicates heightened engagement from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Following this development, optimism is high in the market regarding the potential approval of the proposed Litecoin ETF.

While Seyffart cautions that there are “no guarantees,” the amended filing may suggest that the SEC is taking a closer look at the proposal. 

He tweeted on January 16, “CanaryFunds just filed an amended S-1 for their Litecoin ETF. No guarantees—but this might indicate SEC engagement on the filing. Still no 19b-4 filing yet, though. (A 19b-4 would actually start the potential approval/denial clock) h/t.”

The S-1 filing is a critical component of the SEC’s approval process for new investment products. Although the amendment does not ensure approval, it signals that the SEC is paying attention to this application. 

Seyffart emphasizes that a 19b-4 filing, which formally requests to list and trade the ETF on a national securities exchange, has yet to be submitted. This step is essential to initiating the official timeline for SEC consideration.

Canary Capital initially filed for the Litecoin ETF in October 2024, shortly after applying for an XRP ETF. Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas echoed Seyffart's sentiments in a post on his X account, suggesting that recent “chatter” indicates the SEC has provided feedback on the S-1.

His post reads, “We had heard chatter that the Litecoin S-1 had gotten comments back from SEC. This looks to confirm that, which bodes well for our prediction that Litecoin is most likely to be the next coin approved. All that said, the new SEC chair has yet to start, and that's a huge variable.”

Both analysts express confidence that a Litecoin ETF could be approved soon. Yet they note that the arrival of a new SEC chair could significantly influence this timeline. Historically, the SEC has been cautious about approving cryptocurrency ETFs, scrutinizing applications for Bitcoin and Ethereum closely.

Following this news, Litecoin's price surged to $118.55 at the time of this writing, reflecting a 16.44% increase over the past 24 hours.

Additionally, Grayscale’s Litecoin Investment Trust offers U.S. investors exposure to LTC through its exchange-traded product (ETP). Notably, Grayscale has quietly accumulated over 500,000 LTC in 2024 alone. 

According to Coinglass data, while the Trust held less than 1.5 million LTC coins in January 2024, its holdings have now surpassed 2 million. This growth indicates Grayscale's anticipation of strong investor interest in Litecoin as market dynamics shift and regulatory clarity emerges.

Is SEC approval of the Litecoin ETF on the horizon? A FOX Business journalist, Eleanor Terrett, cautioned against raising expectations too soon. In a recent post on X, she pointed out that while the Solana ETF's S-1 filing also received input from SEC staff, its subsequent 19b-4 filing was ultimately rejected.

This occurred a few weeks ago under the leadership of Gary Gensler, who is set to leave his position in three working days. 

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