ETF Giants Demand SEC Reset: VanEck, 21Shares, Canary Fight to Reclaim First-Mover Edge

Wall Street's crypto-hopefuls aren't playing nice. VanEck, 21Shares, and Canary just threw down the gauntlet—demanding the SEC revert to first-come, first-served ETF approvals. Because apparently, even in decentralized finance, queue-jumping is a sport.

Here's the kicker: these firms want their 'first-to-file' status honored, arguing the SEC's shuffling of review orders creates unfair disadvantages. Never mind that the SEC moves at the speed of a blockchain confirmation—regulatory whiplash is now part of the game.

Bonus jab: Nothing unites crypto bros and TradFi suits faster than the chance to cry 'unfair advantage' while maneuvering for one.

Stalled first-mover advantage

The letter argued that departures from the queue began in October 2021, when the ProShares Bitcoin futures Fund received a three-day head start and secured more than 90% of the market share. 

Early filers for spot Bitcoin and ethereum ETFs later saw their applications cleared on Jan. 10, 2024, the same day larger asset managers that filed months or years later received green lights. 

The firms contend that such timing favors issuers with deeper distribution networks, encourages copycat filings, and concentrates assets under bigger brands.

The authors said the pattern harms market integrity by weakening incentives for original research and discouraging smaller sponsors from taking early risks. 

They also noted that honoring filing dates WOULD not add material strain on SEC staff because registration statements already arrive in sequence and can retain their original time gaps through the review cycle.

Calls echo prior public remarks

VanEck digital assets research chief Matt Sigel has repeated the queue argument since 2024. On May 23, 2024, Sigelthat deviations undercut the Administrative Procedure Act’s transparency standard and force early filers to shoulder prolonged update expenses.

He added that refusing to follow this standard “creates an uneven playing field for issuers who filed earlier and had to wait longer.”

On January 22, Sigelthe regulator’s new leadership to “respect the line” after the agency formed its crypto Task Force. 

Canary Capital chief executive Steve McClurg previewed the coordinated pushat the Litecoin Summit in Las Vegas, telling attendees that several issuers planned a formal appeal for a return to the queue. 

Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart also commented on the letter,that the first-to-file approach was standard practice until the 2024 launches of the spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs.