The presentation to the SEC introduces the "21Shares Ondo Trust" and marks the firm's latest initiative to expand its range of cryptocurrency investment products. According to the preliminary prospectus, the Ondo ETF will operate as a passive fund.
It will track the CME CF Ondo Finance-Dollar reference rate. This benchmark, managed by CF Benchmarks Ltd, aggregates ONDO trades executed on leading cryptocurrency exchanges. The ETF's shares are expected to list on a national exchange, although specific headquarters and ticker symbols have not been disclosed.
Meanwhile, Coinbase Custody Trust Company will act as the custodian for the Ondo ETF. It will hold all ONDO tokens of the fund on behalf of the trust in secure and segregated accounts. These will primarily be stored in cold storage to ensure their security against theft and loss.
The Trust will not be registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940. Therefore, the proposed Ondo ETF will not be subject to its protections for investors.
The product will also not offer protection against the price volatility of ONDO. As stated in the filing, the ONDO token itself is not registered as a security.
The registration statement remains subject to SEC review and has not yet gone into effect. The price of ONDO rose following the announcement, as market participants reacted to the news of the Ondo ETF filing.
The token price increased to $1.08, a 2.3% rise in 24 hours. Additionally, its market capitalization rose to $3.44 billion, while the daily trading volume exceeded $343 million. So far, no launch date has been set for the fund.
