Nasdaq Files to List 21Shares’ Spot Sui ETF, Moving Toward First US Altcoin Fund Beyond BTC and ETH

Nasdaq Pushes Ahead With 21Shares’ Spot Sui ETF Application Amid Rising Interest

Nasdaq has formally submitted a request to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) seeking approval to list a spot Sui ETF proposed by crypto asset manager 21Shares.

The filing, dated 23 May, begins the regulatory review of the fund, which would track the price of Sui (SUI), a blockchain token seen as a rival to Solana in the decentralised applications space.

SEC Faces Tight Review Timeline With Final Deadline in January 2026

The ETF application process requires two key filings: the S-1 registration form, submitted by 21Shares on 30 April, and the 19b-4 filing submitted by Nasdaq.

With both now lodged, the SEC is expected to begin its review, initially having 45 days to respond.

However, under current rules, the agency can extend the review process up to a maximum of 240 days.

That means a final decision must be made no later than 18 January 2026.

Spot Sui ETF Would Be Among First Altcoin Funds in the US

If approved, the ETF would be among the first in the US to offer direct exposure to a layer-1 altcoin beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum.

The fund is designed to track the price of SUI, which currently ranks as the 11th-largest cryptocurrency with a market cap of $12.47 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.

For comparison, Solana (SOL), in 6th place, holds a market cap of $90.70 billion.

Source: CoinMarketCap

21Shares already offers a similar exchange-traded product in Europe, listed on both Euronext Paris and Euronext Amsterdam.

According to CoinShares, SUI-based ETPs globally have reached $317.2 million in assets under management, with $2.9 million in inflows recorded between 16 and 24 May.

Only Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana and XRP-based products currently hold more assets.

Who Else Is Competing to Launch a Sui ETF?

Canary Capital is currently the only other firm that has filed the necessary S-1 and 19b-4 forms to list a spot Sui ETF.

Their application was submitted on 8 April, slightly ahead of 21Shares’ filings.

Neither firm has disclosed the management fee or the ETF’s proposed ticker symbol.

However, 21Shares has named BitGo and Coinbase Custody as custodians for holding the SUI tokens on behalf of the trust.

Sui Network Recovers After $223 Million Cetus Exploit

Just one day before Nasdaq’s filing, the Sui network faced a major challenge when decentralised exchange Cetus suffered a $223 million exploit on 22 May.

The attacker managed to bridge part of the stolen assets to Ethereum, but validators succeeded in freezing $162 million on-chain.

The Sui Foundation acted swiftly, offering a secured loan to help Cetus recover and pledged an additional $10 million to boost its security initiatives, including smart contract audits, formal validation tools and bug bounty programmes.

Source: X

Despite the incident, the token has shown resilience.

SUI climbed to approximately $3.73, reflecting an 6.45% rise over the past 24 hours—an indication that investor confidence may be holding strong even amid recent turbulence.