The new SEC chairman is counting down: decisions will be made on 17 altcoins.

It is just days before Paul Atkins, nominated by Donald Trump, officially begins his role as the head of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Atkins’s swearing-in ceremony is expected to take place this week. One of the most important agendas awaiting the new SEC chairman will be spot ETF applications.

Bloomberg’s ETF analyst Eric Balchunas reported that there are 72 separate spot ETF applications related to crypto awaiting decision on Atkins’ desk. Balchunas states, “This year is going to be quite active. The applications cover a wide range of assets, including leading projects like XRP, Litecoin, Solana, as well as many different assets such as Penguins, Doge, and Melania.”

These applications, which are quite numerous and made by different companies, cover 17 altcoins. These; XRP (XRP), Litecoin (LTC), Solana (SOL), Dogecoin (DOGE), Cardano (ADA), Hedera (HBAR), Polkadot (DOT), Avalanche (AVAX), Axelar (AXL), Sui (SUI), Aptos (APT), Pudgy Penguins (PENGU), Official Trump (TRUMP), Melania (MELANIA), Bonk (BONK), BNB (BNB), and Chainlink (LINK).

ETFs, also known as exchange-traded funds, enable cryptocurrencies to be bought and sold on exchanges like stocks. While ETFs offer institutional investors an easy way to invest in cryptocurrencies, they also stand out as an alternative path for individual investors who do not want to take on the responsibility of storing cryptocurrencies.

According to Bloomberg analysts, the likelihood of the next ETF to be approved after Bitcoin and Ethereum being Litecoin is higher than the others. Analysts attribute this to Litecoin’s similarities to Bitcoin in certain aspects and the fact that it has not been classified as a “security” by the SEC so far. On the other hand, crypto research firm Kaiko believes that XRP stands out in this race due to both its liquidity and a recently launched leveraged XRP ETF in the US.

Published: April 21, 2025 23:02