Key takeaways
- Grayscale filed a second amended S-1 for its BNB ETF on May 16 with the SEC.
- Vaneck updated its own competing BNB ETF app on the same day, the first simultaneous double amendment of this nature.
- Bloomberg’s James Seyffart said Grayscale’s amendment suggests the SEC is actively reviewing and engaging with both players.
The race for a place BNB ETFs
Grayscale’s second S-1 amendment is the most significant development as it indicates the issuer is responding to written comments from staff of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Seyffart noted that the amendment suggests that Grayscale is advancing its BNB ETF based on direct SEC comments
Grayscale first filed its first S-1 for grayscale BNB Trust late last year, proposing to be listed under the symbol GBNB on Nasdaq. Vaneck registered a competing trust in April and submitted his S-1 shortly thereafter. Both companies are now in active amendment cycles with the regulator.
BNB is the native token of BNB Chain (formerly Binance Smart Chain) and is the primary utility asset within the Binance ecosystem, used for trading fee discounts, token launches, and on-chain governance. At current prices, BNB has a market capitalization above $87 billion, making it the third largest crypto active by market capitalization After bitcoin and ether.
Neither repository includes stakingan omission which reflects the pursuit regulatory uncertainty about whether staking returns on assets held by ETFs would trigger additional securities law requirements, the same caution that shaped early iterations of spot ETF applications.
Structure and custody
Coinbase will act as custodian for both Grayscale and Vaneck BNB ETF products, holding BNB on behalf of the fund’s shareholders. This reflects the custody agreement used for the two companies’ spot. bitcoin and ether funds. Before either product can begin trading, the SEC must also approve a Rule 19b-4 change filed by Nasdaq, allowing the exchange to list the new instrument.
The simultaneous amendments of May 16 signal a competitive emergency. In both cases bitcoin and the spot and ether ETF races, the issuer that gained regulatory approval was the first to capture the majority of early institutional inflows. Grayscale and Vaneck seem well aware of this dynamic.
Finally, with the accumulation of whales heats up$700 could be a short term solution BNB target price (subject to ETF approval), drawing parallels with the flow-driven price revaluations that followed the bitcoin and the launch of an ether ETF.
