Just days after President Trump left office, two asset management firms jointly applied for regulatory approval to launch an exchange-traded fund associated with the digital currency or "meme coin," as per a filing on Tuesday.
REX Advisers, the parent company of ETF issuer REXShares, and Osprey Funds submitted requests to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to introduce a total of seven new cryptocurrency ETFs linked to the recently launched $TRUMP coin, other meme coins like DOGE and BONK, and established tokens such as Solana and Ripple's XRP.
These filings will test the boundaries of the SEC's new crypto-friendly leadership, which was announced on Tuesday, to determine their openness to introducing new crypto products.
ETF strategist Todd Sohn from Strategas commented, "This is the wild west now; a world where there is the potential to unleash a lot of esoteric products and people are willing to see what will fly because it's such a growth area. But I don't know how many of these will win approval; some strike me as a bit outlandish."
The filing details some of the risks associated with designing and investing in emerging crypto tokens like $TRUMP. According to REXShares and Osprey Funds, "$TRUMP is a relatively new innovation and is subject to unique and substantial risks. The market for $TRUMP is susceptible to rapid price swings, changes, and uncertainty."
$TRUMP has experienced significant price fluctuations, with its value ranging from about $10 up to $74.59 on the day of its launch, dropping to $31.65 on Monday night and rising to $44 late Tuesday afternoon, per cryptocurrency price monitor CoinGecko. This gives the meme coin an approximate valuation of $8.9 billion.
Neither REX nor Osprey responded immediately for comments. The Trump administration's office did not promptly respond to the request for comment.
On the same Friday, ProShares, another asset manager, also filed for eight new ETFs, four associated with Solana and four with XRP. Currently, regulators have not approved any ETFs tied to these coins. ProShares is also seeking approval to introduce leveraged and inverse ETFs.
ProShares did not provide a comment. These latest cryptocurrency ETF filings will join approximately two dozen others under review by the SEC.